


You're Not Alone Pt. 2 ( Daryl Dixon x Reader )

by Sourwolf_sterek32



Series: You're Not Alone (Pt. 1 & 2) [2]
Category: The Walking Dead (TV)
Genre: Badass Reader, Daryl Dixon is a Softie, Daryl Dixon x Reader, F/M, Hurt Daryl Dixon, Hurt/Comfort, Mentions of past abuse, Protective Daryl Dixon, Reader-Insert, Reader-Interactive, hurt reader
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-27
Updated: 2018-11-11
Packaged: 2019-07-03 08:09:37
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 14
Words: 55,295
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15814917
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sourwolf_sterek32/pseuds/Sourwolf_sterek32
Summary: Sequel to the first 'You're Not Alone'The reader and Daryl have started to settle into life at Alexandria, but once the group runs into the Saviours and more specifically Negan, your way of life as you know it will change forever. While the universe seems to be set on pulling you and Daryl apart, how far are you willing to go to get back to each other and make things right?This series picks up during the Season 6 finale and follows the basic story line up till the Season 8 finale, through yours and Daryl’s eyes.(Spoilers for Season 8 of TWD)





	1. Chapter 1

Life in this new world has had its ups and downs. You lost people, you lost a lot of people. Lori, T-Dog, Sophia, Hershel, Merle, Andrea, Beth, Tyreese. But you also came across new people, some who had become a part of the group, a part of your family. Michonne, Sasha, Tara, Eugene, Abraham, Rosita and baby Judith.

After Hershel's farm got overrun you found a prison which became your new home until the Governor attacked. Everyone got slit up after the attack, you ended up on your own and came across a place called Terminus which was not a safe haven like they claimed it to be, but in the end it brought you all together again so it was worth it. The group then came across a church meeting father Gabriel until a guy called Aaron showed up and bought you all to Alexandria.

You and Daryl grew closer as time went on, always going on runs and hunting trips together. There had been a few times when your relationship got put to the test like back at the prison when he left with his brother Merle without saying anything to you. That honestly destroyed you because on one hand you understood that Merle was blood and that Daryl thought he'd never see his older brother again, but on the other hand you were furious with him for not even saying goodbye to you. But in the end, he came back and although it caused a lot of tension between the two of you for a while, you forgave him. That night Daryl asked you to marry him, getting down on one knee with the most beautiful silver ring in his hand that he had found on a run a few mouths earlier and since that night you never looked back.

After the group arrived at Alexandria everything began to settle down, the people of Alexandria had no idea how to survive outside the gates in the real world, but after having to deal with the giant herd and having to fight off the Wolves, the Alexandrians quickly learnt how to defend themselves. You and Daryl moved into your own house, it was next door to Rick and Michonne's allowing you all to stay close, but giving you and Daryl some privacy and space away from people.

A few weeks later, Rick and Daryl found a man named Jesus, who turned out to be from a community similar to yours. After that everything happened so quickly. You visited the Hilltop. Found out Maggie was pregnant. Made a deal with Hilltops leader Gregory, to take out the Saviours who have not only taken one of their men, but take half of everything they find, whether its food, medicine, weapons you name it, the Saviours took half of it. So, between Rick, Daryl, Maggie and yourself you made a deal with him to take out the Saviours for him and in return they would share some of their resources.

Everything went according to plan, although Maggie and Carol got taken by a couple of the Saviours we got them back and took down the last of the Saviours. Daryl even got his motorcycle back that got taken from him by a couple of people he came across in the burnt-out woods back when the group was dealing with the herd of walkers.

You never thought you'd say this, but life was good. You had Alexandria and its walls allowing you all to sleep at night without one eye open in fear a walker might find you. You had the Hilltop as close allies and although you hated the Gregory dude, Jesus was a good guy and constantly travelled between the communities. Judith and Carl were finally able to hang around other kids. Maggie and Glen had a good place to raise their unborn child and you and Daryl still had each other. So yeah, life was pretty damn good.

-

"How ya feeling? I heard ya throwing up again in the middle of the night, ya should go see Denise, get her to make sure everythin' is okay." Daryl asked walking into the bedroom after realising you had finally woken up. You sighed rubbing your face with your hands as you sat up in bed. You hadn't been feeling well for the past few weeks, constantly throwing up at random hours of the morning and sleeping more than you usually would. You figured you had picked up a cold or some sort of flu from Judith who was sick about a month ago when you were babysitting her for Rick.

"I'm fine, don't worry. Just can't wait for this sickness to be over and remind me to tell Rick he can look after Judith himself next times she's sick." You replied as Daryl sat down on the bed next to you giving you a soft kiss. "No. I don't want you to get sick too." You quickly said pulling away slightly, but Daryl shook his head.

"I don't care." He replied grabbing your waist as he began kissing you again. You grabbed his face returning the deep passionate kiss as you ran your fingers through his hair.

"God, I love you." You whispered as you began pulling off his leather vest when suddenly someone knocked on your front door and you growled in frustration.

"We don't have to answer it, its probably just Rick or Carol." Daryl muttered, and you raised your eyebrows staring at him until he sighed dropping his head. "Okay. Okay. I'm answering it. Get changed in case it's Rick wanting us to take his guard shift or something." Daryl said giving you one last kiss before he climbed off the bed heading out the room.

Climbing out of bed you slowly began to get dressed, putting on your sleeveless flannel over your tank top as you pulled your jeans up and slipped your boots on before making your way downstairs to find out who was at the door.

"Ya good with this?" You heard Daryl asked as you walked out the front door to find Rosita and Denise standing on the porch talking to him.

"No." Rosita stated glancing over at you giving you a slight nod and you nodded back before Denise started talking.

"I'll go alone, if I have to."

"You'll die alone." Daryl muttered. You stood next to him in silence not wanting to interrupt the conversation as you tried to figure out what the three of them were talking about.

"I'm asking you to make sure I don't. Y/N could come too if you want, she knows how to handle her own out there, she-" Denise began to say before Daryl interrupted her.

"Nah, Y/N ain't going anyway. She's been sick, she needs to rest." Daryl stated glancing over at you as you shook your head crossing your arms knowing full well that there's no point arguing with your husband.

"I'm not babysitting her by myself." Rosita suddenly said, and Daryl sighed but nodded causing you to smile. He wouldn't have said no to her, he's too nice of a guy which was one of the reasons why you loved him so much.

"Meet me at the gates in five and we'll go." Daryl instructed, and the girls nodded before walking off.

"Hey Y/N, if you're still not feeling well when we get back, come and see me and I might be able to help." Denise offered, and you smiled.

"I might do that. Thank you, Denise. Good luck on the run." You replied as you followed Daryl back inside the house already grabbing his assault rifle slinging it over his shoulder. He missed his crossbow, but you assured him that he will find a new one day after his got taken back when he came across those people in the woods.

"Promise me you'll be careful alright?" You asked walking over to him as you wrapped your arms around his waist resting your head against his back.

"As long as ya take it easy today, ask Sasha or someone to take your guard shift this afternoon. Ya need to rest." Daryl replied turning around kissing your forehead as he pulled you into his chest.

"Yes mother." You mumbled sarcastically, and Daryl huffed a small laugh before pulling away.

"I'll see ya soon baby." Daryl said softly as he began walking out the front door.

"I love you!" You shouted catching him smile beneath the hair covering his face.

"Love ya too." He replied closing the door behind himself as you sat down on the couch with a sigh. You were bored already. What the hell am I supposed to do for the rest of the day?

-

A few hours after Daryl left for the run you found yourself wondering over to Maggie and Glen's house down the street. You had been meaning to drop by their house for a while to see if they needed anything.

"Maggie? Glen? Anyone home?" You called knocking on their front door as Enid opened it greeting you. "Hey Enid, is Maggie around?"

"Yeah she's in the lounge room, I'm taking her guard shift." The girl replied, and you smiled grateful that Enid is helping Maggie out so much.

"Thank you for doing that. I'll catch you later." You said, and she nodded before walking off as you entered the house.

"Maggie?" You called walking into the lounge room, but she was no where to been seen. Where is she? You walked through the house until you found her in the kitchen cooking some sort casserole, but before you could say anything to greet her you suddenly felt nauseous and you knew you had to get away from that smell unless you wanted to give Maggies carpet a new colour.

"Y/N?" Maggie called in confusion as you suddenly rushed out the room until you reached the front door. You took a few steps outside taking in slow deep breaths of the outside fresh air. What the hell is happening to me? I can't even smell cooking food without feeling sick.

"Are you alright? What just happened?" Maggies voice asked as she appeared next to you while you leant against the railing shaking your head.

"I don't know. I've been feeling sick lately, waking up during the night and throwing up. Stuff like that. Daryl said I should see Denise when they get back from the run, he's starting to get worried." You explained as you looked out across the road spotting Michonne walk past with Judith in her arms, you gave her a wave before Maggie started talking.

"Did the smell in the kitchen make you feel sick?" She questioned, and you nodded slowly, slightly confused by her sudden serious tone. "When was the last time you had your period?" She suddenly asked causing you stand up straight looking at her.

"What? How does that have anything to do with- Oh shit." You gasped finally realising where she was going with this conversation. "I-I can't remember, it was a while ago. Fuck I think it's been a few months since I've had my period, how the hell did I not realise that?" You questioned, panic rising in your voice as Maggie placed her hand on your shoulder.

"Y/N breath. It might just be a coincidence. Let's go to the infirmary, Denise is out on a run with Daryl and Rosita, right? So nobody will be in there and you can take one of the pregnancy tests in there." Maggie said rubbing your back softly and you nodded. She's right there's no need getting worked up over this. There's no way I'm pregnant, Daryl and I have been careful, it must be a coincidence. Everything will be fine. 

-

"This can't be happening." You muttered staring at the two positive pregnancy tests on the bench in front of you. You felt like you were going to be sick all over again, how the hell do I tell Daryl? We have never talked about having kids. You knew he had a rough childhood with his abusive father, would he even want you to keep the baby? What if he wants you to get rid of it? You can't get rid of it, but you can't do it without Daryl.

"Y/N it's going to be okay." Maggie said as she wrapped her arm over your shoulder allowing you to cry into her neck. You didn't even know why you were crying, you were stronger than this, why the hell were you crying? "It's okay, let it out." Maggie said rubbing your back softly until you pulled away from her.

"How do I tell Daryl? I don't even know if he wants kids, we have never talked about!" You exclaimed trying to keep your voice down as you took a deep breath. "What if he doesn't want the baby? I can't get rid of it."

"Daryl would never make you do something you don't want to do. He loves you Y/N. You saw how he stood up when Judith was born, if it wasn't for him I don't think she would have made it. He loves Judith and he will love your son or daughter just as much." Maggie replied with a soft smile and you sighed knowing she was right. "Our babies are going to grow up as best friends, can you imagine that?"

"That would be pretty cute." You admitted with a soft laugh. The two of you sat in the room for a few more minutes as you let everything slowly sink in while Maggie remained silent holding your hand for comfort.

"We should probably get out of here before someone sees us." You stated standing up as you chucked the tests in the bin as you both walked out the room.

"Do you want to come back to mine?" Maggie asked but you shook your head wiping your eyes that you knew would be red from crying a few minutes ago.

"I'm just gonna go back to my house and wait for Daryl to get back." You replied, and Maggie nodded giving you a hug before you both went opposite ways.

You still had no idea how you were going to tell Daryl, but luckily you would still have at least a couple more hours before he should be back. So, you focused on walking quickly back to your house not wanting to bump into anyone, knowing that your face would show you had been crying. You were just about to turn towards your house when Rick suddenly called your name causing you to stop.

"Y/N! Wait up." Rick called, and you sighed hearing his boots hit the pavement as he jogged over to you. You didn't look at him, instead kept your gaze at the ground with your hair covering your face as he approached you. "I was wondering if- Hey what's wrong?" Rick questioned noticing something was up, but you shook your head not trusting your voice at the moment as Rick placed his hand on your shoulder causing you to look over at him.

"What's going on? Are you okay?" Rick quickly asked his voice turning soft as he took in your red eyes filled with unshed tears and you shook your head as Rick pulled you into a hug and suddenly you couldn't fight back your emotions anymore and began crying all over again.

Rick didn't say anything for a while, letting you cry into his shoulder as he held you tightly. Over the years the two of you had become close, forming a brother-sister type bond with each other, but not as strong as the bond he had with Daryl, the two of them have a very strong bromance that nobody could beat.

"What happened?" Rick asked as you slowly pulled away wiping the tears from your eyes as he watched you in concern.

"Nothing happened." You replied in a croaky voice as you shook your head trying to work out whether you should tell him or not.

"Then what's going on? Because I have barely ever seen you cry." Rick replied, and you sighed looking around making sure nobody was around before you looked back at Rick.

"I'm pregnant." You stated, watching as Rick stared at you in surprise obviously not expecting you to say that. He didn't say anything for a few seconds and you could almost hear the gears turning in his brain as he processed what you just told him.

"I would say congratulations, but you don't seem happy about it." Rick responded as he glanced around making sure nobody else was in the area.

"I don't know how to feel at the moment. I didn't plan it, Daryl and I didn't plan this, but I want to have the baby, that much I know for certain. But I just don't know how Daryl will react. Hell, I don't even know if he wants kids, we have never talked about it." You explained, and Rick sighed placing his hand on your shoulder forcing you to look at him properly.

"It's going to be okay, Y/N. Daryl loves you and he will love this baby. You don't need to worry about how he will react, you have seen the way he acts around Judith." Rick said, and you smiled softly with a nod.

"That's exactly what Maggie said." You replied, and Rick smiled. "Only you and Maggie know. I just found out less than an hour ago and I don't want anyone else knowing before Daryl does."

"I won't tell anyone Y/N. Just take it easy today, alright? It sounds like you have had a pretty stressful afternoon." Rick stated, and you nodded giving him a quick hug.

"Thank you. I think I'm gonna go inside and have a nap. If Daryl comes back can you tell him where I am?" You asked as you began heading towards your front door.

"I can do that. If you need anything just shout." Rick replied, and you nodded before opening the front door and heading straight for the bedroom.

-

You woke up to the sound of someone knocking on your front door as you looked around the room noticing the sunsetting out the bedroom window. How long was I asleep for?

"Coming!" You shouted as you made your way down the stairs. "Hey Carol, what can I do for you?" You asked as you opened the door, but by the expression on her face something wasn't right. Was Daryl okay? Did something happen on the run?

"Nobody has told you, have they?" She questioned, and you shook your head trying to think of what she could be talking about. "We didn't kill all the Saviours back at the satellite place, there's more out there. They ambushed Daryl, Rosita and Denise on the train tracks. Dwight was there, the man Daryl helped in the woods who then stole his bike and crossbow afterwards, he's one of them." Carol began to explain, and you shook your head trying to process everything she was telling you. There were more Saviours? How many more? Did they know we were the ones who killed their people?

"Daryl is he-" You began to ask before Carol continued talking.

"Daryl is here, he's fine. Eugene and Abraham were there as well. Eugene got shot, but he will be fine... But Denise died. Dwight shot her with the crossbow." Carol finally said, and your heart dropped. Denise is gone? Oh my God Tara is out on a 2-week run, she doesn't know. "I came here because I thought you might be able to talk to Daryl, he's acting like he's fine, but I can tell he isn't coping too well with what happened."

"Where is he?" You asked, already putting your boots on as you walked out the house.

"By the graves, we just buried Denise." Carol informed, and you nodded before running across the town. Damn it Daryl, he should have woken you up and told you what happened so you could be there for him, instead he had to go through it alone.

"Daryl?" You called as you walked passed a couple trees towards the graves where you spotted him leaning against a shovel staring at the ground.

"Hey. Sorry I didn't want to wake ya." Daryl muttered as he looked over his shoulder towards you and you could see the pain and grief in his eyes.

"I'm so sorry." You said walking over to him wrapping your arms around him. His body was tense as you hugged him, but he slowly began to relax in your arms and you heard him let out a deep shaky breath. "I should've came with you, to help you and be there for you."

"No. Ya could have gotten hurt or worse and I... I wouldn't have been able to live with myself if both my wife and the innocent girl I was meant to protect died." Daryl answered, and you frowned pulling away from him slightly.

"I know that look in your eye, Daryl. This wasn't your fault. Denise wasn't your fault." You stated but he shook his head.

"I should've killed Dwight when I had the chance." Daryl replied bitterly as he glanced over at Denise's grave before looking back at you.

"That's not who you are. You helped him because in that moment it was the right thing to do." You replied, but that was clearly the wrong thing to say as Daryl suddenly pulled away from you in anger, nearly knocking you over.

"How was it the right thing to do? He killed Denise! And now the Saviours know who we are and they know where Alexandria is." Daryl yelled causing you to jump slightly not expecting his sudden outburst, but you couldn't blame him. What he just went through would have been awful, you were kind of glad he was yelling at you because at least it meant he was talking to you about it.

"I didn't mean it like that Daryl." You stated sternly, and you saw him sigh as he rubbed his hands over his face before walking back over to you.

"I know. M'sorry." He said softly and you smiled at him sadly.

"It's fine, you have had a long day. Let's go home, its nearly dark." You said placing your hand along his cheek as he grabbed your hand kissing it gently. He nodded slightly as the two of you began to walk back to your house. You decided to tell him about the baby tomorrow, he had been put through enough stress for one day, you didn't want to add the list.


	2. Chapter 2

Once again you awoke to an empty bed. You figured Daryl would be with Rick, trying to plan what to do if the Saviours tried to attack Alexandria, so you slowly climbed out of bed and got changed for the day. Last night you managed to calm Daryl down enough for him to get at least a few hours of sleep, you played with his hair while he laid against you, his head in the crock of your neck until he eventually fell asleep. He blamed himself for what happened and no matter what you told him, he just couldn't see past it. He was hurting and there was nothing you could do about it and that honestly killed you more than anything.

Just as you were putting your boots on to go take over the guard shift from Abraham you heard the engine of Daryl's motorcycle roar to life. Why would he start the bike up if he wasn't going on any runs? You asked yourself, when it suddenly hit you, he wasn't going on a run, he was going to find Dwight.

In a split second you race out the house and sprinted towards the front gate, spotting Daryl as he pulled up in front of the gate climbing off his bike to open them.

"Where are you going?" You heard Rosita question as you reached Daryl's bike standing next to it so he couldn't get to it.

"Out." Daryl muttered as he continued to open the gate and you knew there was no way Rosita would be able to stop him from leaving.

"No, shit. You got specifics?" Abraham asked from the guard post, but Daryl didn't even acknowledge his question as he turned back to his bike, freezing for a second when he saw you standing there.

"Don't go after him. Who knows how many more of the Saviours are out there, it's a suicide mission!" You shouted unable to control your sudden surge of anger.

"Don't care." Daryl muttered as he walked over to you folding his arms over his chest waiting for you to move out the way.

"Well bad luck because I do! Don't do this. Denise wasn't your fault, the only person who blames you for what happened is yourself." You stated, but Daryl shook his head grabbing your arm and pulling you away from the bike. As strong as you were, you were no match against Daryl, so you didn't fight back when he pulled you away, but you did grab his shoulder causing him to stop as he grabbed the handle bars of the bike.

"Give me one good reason why I shouldn't go?" Daryl shouted glaring over his shoulder at you as you refused to let go of him.

"Because you're not thinking clearly right now!" You yelled and you could feel tears slowly rising in your eyes, but you force them down as Daryl shrugged your hand off his shoulder. "You can't go!" You shouted desperately afraid that if goes then he may never return.

"Why?!" He shouted as he climbed onto the bike and you knew what was about to happen.

"Because I'm pregnant!" You yelled which got his attention as he quickly looked over at you trying to workout if you were joking or not.

"Ya sure?" He questioned, his voice slightly softer now and you nodded. He didn't say anything for a while and you could feel Abraham and Rosita staring at you in shock, but right now all you wanted was for Daryl to say something, for him to say anything!

"I have to do this."  He suddenly stated after a few seconds of silence and before you could even register what he said he took off, leaving you standing there trying to comprehend what the hell just happened.

You stood there watching him until his bike disappeared into the distance, you didn't even hear a car behind you until Abraham started talking.

"Make room for my freckled ass!" He shouted and you turned around to find Glen and Michonne in one of the cars as Abraham stood in front.

"No. Cover my watch. You stay." Rosita ordered walking past Abraham towards the backdoor. They were going to go after Daryl, thank God.

"Hey, we should keep numbers here." Glen shouted from the driver's side as Maggie walked up next to you placing a hand on your shoulder as the two of you watched them argue.

"I know where Daryl's going." Rosita stated, already climbing into the car as it took off down the road, following the way Daryl went. I should have done more to stop. He isn't thinking straight, he's acting on emotion and that never ends well.

"Daryl will come around, he was just shocked when you told him, it doesn't mean he doesn't want this baby. Don't worry, Glen will bring him back." Maggie reassured, and you nodded feeling tears beginning to rise in your eyes again as you sighed heading towards the steps to the guard post.

"Hey, I can take your shift for you Y/N." Abraham suddenly said and you smiled at his gesture, but honestly right now you needed to. You needed to do something to get your mind off what just happened and you have sat around the house for the past few days doing absolutely nothing, it will be nice to actually do something productive.

"Thanks Abe, but I can do it." You replied. He watched you cautiously for a few seconds, contemplating what to do before he nodded giving you the thumbs up as he began to walk off.

-

The next hour or so went by without any sign of Daryl or the others and you couldn't shrug off the feeling that something was wrong, something was very wrong. Before you could start worrying about it you heard voices getting closer and you turned around to find Morgan, Sasha and Abraham walking towards the gate discussing something about Carol leaving without saying a word. Why would she leave? Something must have happened, she wouldn't just up and leave without saying goodbye or something.

"Rick, I took over at 12:00 and I was on till 6:00. I never saw anything." Sasha stated as Rick and Tobin walked over to them as you watched from the guard post trying to figure out what the hell happened.

"Front's been quiet since the others left." Abraham added and you noticed the confused look on Ricks face. Did nobody tell him about Daryl and the others leaving?

"What? Who?" Rick questioned in a serious tone and you sighed.

"Daryl left on his bike. Glen, Michonne and Rosita went after him." You answered as you leant against the railing looking down at the group. Rick turned around looking up at you with a slight hint of sympathy on his face knowing how you must be feeling right now before he turned back to Abraham who started explaining further.

"Daryl went ICBM after the Saviours from yesterday. Michonne and others went to shut that shit down." Abraham stated and you sighed looking back towards the road, but there was still no sign of them or Carol for that matter.

"Where's the other car?" Tobin questioned and you quickly scanned the cars that were parked outside the gates, but you didn't notice any missing. "We added two more cars yesterday. One of them is missing, the one we put right between the houses."

"You can barely see between the houses from up top, especially at night." Abraham stated and you nodded looking at the old broken down houses, if there was car between them you wouldn't have noticed.

"You never saw any headlights? Taillights? She's smart enough to cover her tracks." Rick questioned turning back to Sasha who shook her head as Morgan walked off towards one of the cars. "Where are you going?"

"I'm going to go find her." Morgan replied as he opened the drivers side door.

"Wait!" Rick shouted before turning back to Abraham, Sasha and Tobin. "Tell Carl I'll be back soon. No one else leaves. Everyone else stays ready for a fight." Rick ordered and you sighed watching as they drove off in search of Carol. Something is going to go wrong. We're getting split up, something is going to happen. You thought to yourself as you gripped the rifle over your shoulder tighter.

-

He's been tracking Dwight and the other Saviours through the woods for while now. He has to kill them, finish what he started all those weeks ago in the burnt-out forest. Alexandria isn't safe with the Saviours out there, Y/N isn't safe with the Saviours out there and she's pregnant... They have never even spoken about having kids before, does she even want the baby? That was a stupid question of course she does, he saw the way you reacted when he was leaving this morning.

He got caught from his thoughts when he heard rustling to his left and he quickly pulled his crossbow up aiming in the direction as he pulled the trigger, hitting the tree next to Rosita. They shouldn't have came! What the hell were they thinking!

"Watch the hell out, asshole." Rosita warned, pulling the crossbow bolt from the tree as she stormed towards him, Glen and Michonne close behind her.

'I did. You shouldn't have come." He shouted taking the bolt from her as he walked off in the other direction.

"You shouldn't have left." He heard Michonne respond causing him to turn back around to them.

"When I split off from Sasha and Abraham, he was out there in the woods, in that burnt-out forest with them girls, put a gun to me head, tied me up." He shouted shaking his head as he began walking off. "I even tried to help him!"

"So you think it's your fault?' Glen asked.

"Yeah, I know it is. I'm gonna go do what I should've done before." Daryl muttered getting frustrated that they kept trying to stop him. He just needed to get it done, then he could go back home to Y/N and the baby and talk to her properly about the whole situation.

"What, for Denise? She's gone man. You're doing this for you." Glen replied causing him to stop as he stared out into the distance trying to keep his temper in control.

"Man, I don't give a shit." He growled, but Glen jogged over to him standing in front of him to stop him from going anywhere.

"Daryl, we need to get back and figure this out from home. Our home. We need you, Y/N needs you right now more than ever. She's pregnant man and when she told you, you just took off. She's probably freaking out right now thinking that you don't want this baby. Your wife needs you back home. Everyone back there needs us right now. It's gonna go wrong out here." Glen said staring right at Daryl, but he didn't say anything, he couldn't say anything. Does Y/N really think he doesn't want her to have the baby? He knew he should have said something to her, instead of just riding off, but he needed to this. He has to find Dwight.

"We'll square it. I will. I promise you. Just come back." Michonne said, but he shook his head glancing back at Glen.

"I can't." Daryl muttered walking past the other man.

"Daryl."

"Man, I can't!" He shouted over his shoulder as he stormed off further into the woods not looking back.

-

"Abraham get the gate, Rick's back." You called from the guard post down at Abraham who nodded pulling the gate open as Rick drove in before climbing out the car with no sign of Carol.

"Morgan's still out there looking. Is Michonne here?" He asked looking up at you before turning back to Abraham.

"She's still out there too." He replied and Rick sighed staring through the metal bars of the gate as you watched the road waiting for that motorcycle to appear. Any second now, he'll be back.

-

"Maggie is lying on the bed, she's still in a lot of pain though. We need to leave soon, get her to Hilltop." You said as you climbed out the RV after Abraham, Sasha, Eugene and Aaron climbed in. Last night Maggie started getting horrible pains through her stomach, but now it was getting worse so Rick made the call to take her to Hilltop, they had a doctor there.

"We will but are you sure you want come? You were up in the guard post all day yesterday and have been up all night trying to help Maggie, you need to look after yourself and your baby." Rick replied placing a hand on your shoulder and you nodded.

"I have to, it's Maggie. I can't stay here, I have to help her." You answered and Rick sighed but nodded before turning towards Gabriel who was walking towards the two of you.

"We have 24 hour shifts set up on each of the watch towers each one fully supplied and ready. In case that were incurred upon, we have drivers assigned, evacuation and distraction. In the event of any emergency my first priority is Judith. I will not fail you. Are you comfortable leaving me in charge of Alexandria's defence?" Gabriel asked glancing at you as you nodded before looking back at Rick.

"Yes." Rick answered with a nod before motioning for you to get into the RV. You heard Spencer call Ricks name but you climbed into the RV no caring what he had to say, that man irritated you and you knew you'd snap at him if he said something stupid. So, instead you climbed into the vehicle, nodding at the others sitting down at the table small couches before you made your way into the back where Maggie was lying. You heard Rick enter the RV and before long you felt the vehicle start moving and you sighed with relief knowing Maggie will be with Dr Carson soon.

"You're going to fine Maggie, your baby is going to be fine." You whispered as you brushed her hair out of her face while you knelt next her.

"H-how do you know?" She asked in a soft croaky voice and you smiled, that was the first time she's spoken for hours.

"Back before all of this, when my mother was pregnant with my baby brother she went through something very similar. She thought she was going to lose the baby and I remember staying at home balling my eyes out as my father rushed my mother to hospital. She came home a few hours later with a few painkillers, told to rest for a few days and that she and the baby we're fine. Then a few months later I was holding my baby brother." You explained with a sad smile reliving the memory before looking back at Maggie. "Your baby is going to be just fine, we'll be at Hilltop soon." You reassured and she nodded giving you a soft smile when you spotted Rick standing behind you as you stood up giving him a nod before leaving the room, allowing him and Maggie to have some privacy.

Carl quickly moved over on the small couch giving you room to sit down between him and Aaron and you smiled your thanks as you took a seat.

"Is it true?" Carl asked looking over at you as you looked at him in confusion trying to figure out what he was referring to. "Are you pregnant?"

"Man, word travels fast around here." You commented with a soft chuckle before you nodded. "Yeah, I am. I hope the baby will be as well behaved as Judith, she barely cried when she a baby."

"It doesn't matter if she cries a lot, we have the walls at Alexandria." Aaron replied and you smiled as you leant back on the couch, letting your body relax for the first time in nearly 24 hours.

"What the bitch?" Abraham questioned catching your attention as you stood up walking over to him and Sasha in the front chairs when you spotted what he was referring to. A couple cars and a group of people blocking the road with one man lying on the ground who looked to be injured. What the hell are they doing?

"What?" You heard Rick call from the back of the RV.

"Enemy close." Abraham stated as Rick stood besides you taking in the scene in front of them. "We doing this?"

"No." Rick replied taking his gun off his shoulder as he motioned for all of you to follow him outside and suddenly you wished you grabbed your compound bow from yours and Daryl's house before getting in the RV. You had a pistol, but you would have felt more comfortable with your bow.

You all followed Rick walking out the RV, hands raised.

"He's someone, who was with a whole lot of someone's who didn't listen." The man with the moustache shouted pointing to the injured man on the ground.

"We can make a deal. Right here, right now." Rick stated holding his hands up, but still holding his gun as he took a few more steps towards the Saviours.

"That's right. We can. Give us all your stuff. We'll probably have to kill one of you, that's just the way it is. But then we can start moving forward on business. All you have to do is listen." The man replied and you rolled his eyes at his empty threat, he wasn't stupid enough to try kill one of you, you have guns and if he tries then his people will die.

"Yeah, that deal is not gonna work for us." Rick responded lowering his hands as he gripped his rifle and you quickly pulled out your handgun waiting for Rick to make the next move. "Fact is, I was about to ask for all of your stuff, only I'm thinking I don't have to kill any of you. Any more of you."

You watched as the Saviours didn't say anything for a few seconds until one man started shaking a spray can and started drawing something over the injured mans stomach as he was lying on the ground. What is that guy doing? You thought to yourself as you glanced over at Rick who was looking at you and you nodded showing him that you would follow his lead, whatever decision he made.

"Sorry, my deal is the only deal. We don't negotiate." The man stated staring at Rick as he held his hand up indicating for you guys to get back into the RV.

"Me and my people are leaving." Rick responded as he began walking backwards as you followed the others into the RV. You could hear the Saviour still talking, but couldn't pick what he was saying, but it didn't matter because a few seconds later Rick climbed back into the RV and Abraham began reversing back down the road away from them.

Once you guys were out of sight from the Saviours he stopped the RV as Eugene and Sasha tried finding another route on the map. You sat back on the couch fiddling with the wedding ring on your finger wondering if Daryl was back at Alexandria by now.

"You got a route?" Rick questioned walking over to the two of them by the small table.

"Yeah." Sasha said pointing to the map as Rick looked over her shoulder.

"Let's go." He ordered and you sighed with relief resting your head against the back of the couch as Abraham started to drive again. But before you knew it you came across more Saviours blocking the road forcing Abraham to turn around again.

After a few more miles the group came across another road block, but this time it wasn't Saviours, it was a line of walkers with what looked to be a metal chain going through them to hold them in a line. Shit, they must have a lot of people to be able to make something like that with walkers.

"We can't go through it. Can't risk the RV. You stay behind the wheel, just in case. We'll clear it." Rick ordered motioning for the rest of you to follow him out as you all walked over to the line of walkers. "Come on, let's do this."

You were just about to put your gun away and pull out your knife out when Carl spoke up catching your attention by the sudden worry in his tone.

"Dad."

"That's Michonne's." Aaron said nodding towards the middle walker and your eyes widened when you saw a piece of her hair sticking out from the walkers temple. You watched as Rick stepped closer examining it, but it was obvious that he knew it was hers by the worried look on his face.

"No. No. No. Rick!" You called in sudden panic, unable to take your eyes off the two crossbow bolts sticking out of one of the walkers. "That's Daryl's." You said as you walked over to the walker about to pull the bolts out when sudden gunfire erupted around you.

"Get back to the RV! Go!" You heard Rick shout as your fired a few shots in the direction of the gun fire, but you couldn't see shit through the forest. You made sure the others climbed into the RV before you, making sure they were all okay as Rick followed you slamming the door behind him as Abraham took off down the road away from the gunfire.

You sat down on the couch with your head in your hands. Daryl's okay. He has to be okay. Maybe they just found his bolts in other walkers and took them? No, Daryl always grabs them after shooting, he can't afford to lose many. The Saviours had Daryl and Michonne... which means they probably had Glen and Rosita as well. Shit. What are we going to do?

The others were talking about some sort of sound to do with the RV, but you didn't care. They had Daryl. He could be dead... No isn't dead, he can't be.

"They were shooting at our feet. Why were they shooting at our feet?" You questioned lifting your head up to look at the others.

"They blocked the road, but they weren't trying to stop us. They want us in this direction." Rick explained shaking his head in frustration.

"Barton Road takes us north, but they gotta know we wanna go north." Sasha responded and you sighed putting your head back in your hands. This was pointless, they aren't going to stop and sooner or later they won't let us just drive away.

After a few minutes you went back over to Maggie to make sure she was okay. She was burning up and you tried giving her a little bit of water, but she was barely able to drink any. You stayed by her side for the next hour, the RV stopped again and Rick told you to stay with her which you did as the others followed Rick out the vehicle.

When they came back in you all decided on a plan. Eugene was going to drive the RV away in a different direction to keep the Saviours distracted while the rest of you were gonna go on foot through the woods to Hilltop, carrying Maggie on the mattress so she was safe.


	3. Chapter 3

You all waited for sundown before getting out the RV. The guys slowly got Maggie and the mattress out the vehicle while Eugene talked to Rick, you weren't sure what they were saying, but you heard something about building bullets.

A few minutes later Rick, Abraham, Aaron and Sasha were carrying each side of the mattress as you and Carl walked out in front, killing any walker you came across.

"Relax. Just a few more miles." You heard Aaron say as you slammed your knife through the temple of the walker in front of you, glancing back to the group making sure everything was okay before you continued walking. 

Carl slowed down his pace so he could walk next to his dad and you figured he wanted to talk to him so you continued walking a few metres in front, your knife out ready. You zoned out to their conversation, trying to stay focused on clearing a path for Maggie and the others when whistles started echoing throughout the woods around you.

"Go! Go!" You heard Rick shout as they picked up their pace catching up with you as you all rushed through the woods trying to get away from the Saviours.

You pulled your gun out from your belt as you continued to run along side Rick and the others when out of nowhere car lights turned on around you, blinding you for a split second before you realised you were surrounded.

You spun around, your gun aimed up as you tried to find a way out of this shit hole. But there wasn't one. There were people surrounding you from every angle, all holding some type of weapon and that's when you spotted Eugene sitting on the ground on his knees. You glanced over at Rick who looked absolutely terrified and you knew you were screwed. You just hoped like hell that Daryl was away from all this shit, that him and the others had gotten back to Alexandria safe.

"Good. You made it." You heard a familiar voice say and you turned around to find the man with the moustache walk out from behind the RV towards the group. "Welcome to where you're going. We'll take your weapons. Now." He ordered pulling out a gun and aiming it at Carl.

"We can talk about it." Rick said, trying to sound strong, but you knew he was scared. You were terrified. The Saviours outnumbered you six to like 50 and there was absolutely nothing you could do about it.

"We're done talking. Time to listen." The man responded when suddenly people began taking your guns. You didn't fight when a man took your handgun from you grip, there wasn't any point.

"Okay. Let's get her down and get you all on your knees. Lot's to cover." The man stated walking back around to the front of your group as Saviours began walking towards Maggie.

"Hold up. We got it." Abraham stated glaring at them.

"Sure. Sure." The man replied and you watched helplessly as Rick and Abraham moved Maggie off the mattress and onto her knees. You looked over at Rick who stood back up, leaving Abraham on his knees with Maggie as he looked around his group. "Gonna need you on your knees." The man said again taking a step towards Rick. You dropped to the ground alongside Abraham as you looked over at group watching them all do the same.

"Dwight!" The man shouted catching your attention as you looked up to find a man with blonde hair step forward. That's Dwight. That means Daryl didn't kill him. "Chop-chop."

You watched as Dwight nodded turning towards the back of a van as he opened the door, but you couldn't tell what was inside.

"You got people to meet." Dwight said as he pulled someone out of the van and you froze when you realised it was Daryl. He had a blanket wrapped over his shoulders, but what really caught your attention was all the blood along his shoulder and neck which you hoped wasn't his.

"Daryl?!" You called watching as Dwight pushed him to the ground next to Michonne and Rosita. Hearing your voice, he quickly looked up to find you and your eyes locked with his. He looked shocked and scared as his eyes looked you up and down trying to check for any signs of injury and you saw a glimmer of relief in his eyes when he realised you were unharmed.

"Alright! We got a full boat. Let's meet the man." The Saviour shouted as he took a step back and knocked on the RV door. You watched for a few seconds until the door to the RV opened and a man wearing a leather jacket and holding a baseball bat walk out. He must be Negan.

"Pissing out pants yet? Boy, do I have a feeling we're getting close." Negan commented with a grin as he began walking in front of you all with a shit eating grin on his face and that's when you noticed his bat had barbed wire wrapped around it. "Yep. It's gonna be pee-pee pants city here real soon."

You glared up at him as his eyes landed on you for a few seconds before he focused on another group member. You didn't want to show him that you were scared, that made you vulnerable, you had to act strong.

"Which one of you pricks is the leader?" Negan questioned glancing around the group before one of his men pointed to Rick as Negan walked over to him with a sigh. "Hi. I'm Negan. And I do not appreciate you killing my men. Also, when I sent my people to kill your people for killing my people, you killed more of my people. Not cool. Not cool."

You glanced over at Daryl noticing he was already looking at you and you nodded to him ever so slightly not wanting to draw attention to either of you, but wanting to show him that you were okay. You could tell he wanted to say something to you, but he knew better than to talk right now. You turned back towards Negan who was still standing in front of Rick talking.

"You are so gonna regret crossing me in a few minutes. Yes, you are. You see, Rick, whatever you do, no matter what, you don't mess with the new world order. And the new world order is this, and its really very simple. So, even if you're stupid, which you very well may be, you can understand it. You ready? Here it goes. Pay attention." Negan stated as he took the bat off his shoulder holding it next to Ricks face as you watched holding your breath.

"Give me your shit or I will kill you." Negan ordered with a grin as he took a step back from Rick holding the baseball bat to his side as he began to walk down the line to the rest of the group. "Today was career day. We invested a lot so you would know who I am and what I can do. You work for me now. You have shit, you give it to me. That's your job. Now, I know that is a mighty big nasty pill to swallow, but swallow it you must certainly will." He said, still grinning, but you began to zone out what he was saying. We have to work for him now and give him all our stuff? How will we survive like that? We barley have enough food for everyone at Alexandria and now with yours and Maggies baby, how is the community going to survive?

"You try to stop us and we will knock it down. You understand? What, no answer? You don't really think that you were gonna get through this without being punished, now, did you? I don't want to kill you people. Just want to make that clear from the get-go. I want you to work for me. You can't do that if you're dead now can you? I'm not growing a garden. But you killed my people, a whole damn lot of them. More than I'm comfortable with. And for that you're gonna pay. So, now I'm gonna beat the holy hell outta one of you." Negan said as he looked over at all of you as your heart raced a million miles a minute as you watched him, surely he wasn't going to do this.

"This- this is Lucille, and she is awesome. All this, all this is just so we can pick out which one of you gets the honour." Negan said as he held the bat out in front of him as he walked down the group, eyeing everyone like a lion eyeing its prey.

"You got one of our guns." Negan stated as he walked over towards Carl picking up the handgun from the ground in front of him. "You got a lot of our guns. Shit, kid, lighten up. At least cry a little." He said as he tucked the gun into his belt before his eyes landed on you. Shit, I didn't even do anything, why is he walking towards me?

"Well, hello doll face. You are just stunning!" Negan commented as he knelt down in front of you. You could feel your hands trembling by your side as you closed them into fists to try stop the shaking while you stared at Negan, not giving him the satisfaction of seeing you scared of him. "Man. You are literally the only woman here who's not crying. I dig that, you would fit in well with my other wives."

"I'm married." You muttered, glaring at him as he stood back up in surprise that you spoke to him.

"Well that's a damn same." He replied with his sickening grin before he looked over at the rest of the group as his eyes landed on Maggie.

"Jesus. You look shitty. I should just put you out of your misery right now." Negan stated as he gripped his bat tighter.

"No, don't! Don't." Glen yelled as you saw him run past you towards Negan before Dwight punched him, pinning him to the ground with Daryl's crossbow raised.

"Nope. Nope. Get him back in line." Negan ordered as Dwight dragged Glen back to the end of the line and you looked back Negan who looked both pissed yet amused at the same time as he stared at Glen. "Alright, listen. Don't any of you do that again. I will shit that shit down, no exceptions. First one's free. Its an emotional moment, I get it. Sucks don't it? The moment you realise you don't know shit."

You watched Negan as he went silent for a few seconds, but you could see his eyes scanning backwards and forwards between Rick and Carl. Oh God, he's figured out they are father and son, that's not good.

"This is your kid, right? This is definitely your kid." Negan commented with an amused look.

"Just stop this!" Rick suddenly shouted which was the wrong thing to say as you watched Negan snap around to Rick pointing at him.

"Hey! Do not make me kill the little future serial killer. Don't make it easy on me. I gotta pick somebody. Everybody's at the table waiting for me to order." Negan said as he began walking back down the line again, whistling that same damn whistle as he eyed everyone. You wanted to look over at Daryl, but you feared Negan might see and punish one of you. "I simply cannot decide... I got an idea. Eenie." Negan said as he walked over to Rick holding Lucille in front of his face. He isn't seriously going to do this is he?

"Meenie." The bat got shifted in front of you as you glared up at him, but on the inside you were absolutely terrified. This can't be happening, this isn't happening. He can't do this.

"Miney mo catch a tiger." Negan continued walking up and down the line as he pointed to different members of the group, some keeping their head down avoiding eye contact others lifting their heads to try show their strength which is exactly what Daryl did as you watched in fear before Negan moved the bat away from his face. "By his toe. If he hollers let him go. My mother told me to pick the very best one and you are it." Abraham. No. No. No. He's going to kill Abraham. No!

You wanted to do something to stop this, but you knew there was no point. You were out numbered and outgunned. All you could do was watch in horror as Negan pointed the bat at the man next to you. Could feel tears rising in your eyes and you gave up trying to look strong, he was going to kill Abraham and there was nothing you could do about it. 

"Anybody moves, anybody says anything, cut the boys other eye out and feed it to his father and then we'll start. You can breathe, you can blink, you can cry. Hell, you're all gonna be doing that." Negan said as he lifted the bat up high before slamming it down against Abrahams head. He hit the ground hard, blood now pouring from his face, but he forced himself back up onto his knees as he stared up at Negan.

"Whoa! Taking it like a champ!" Negan shouted as he watched Abraham. You could feel the tears in your eyes building up as you bit your lip to stop yourself from making any noise.

"Suck my nuts." Abraham said causing Negan to grin ever more before he swung the bat again at Abraham. You had to cover your mouth with your hands to muffle the scream that left your lips as you watched the bat coming down again and again and again until his head was literally smashed into pieces on the ground right beside you. You could see Michonne out the corner of your eye next you looking away from Negan and you could hear Sasha and Rosita crying from the other sides of the line.

"Did you hear that? He said, 'Suck my nuts.'" Negan chuckled and you felt a few tears escape your eyes as he slammed his bat down at Abraham a few more times. You flinched after every hit, as some of his blood got splattered against your arm.

"Oh my goodness! Look at this! You guys, look at my dirty girl! Sweetheart lay your eyes on this." Negan said holding the now bloodied baseball bat in front of Rosita's face who stared at it in pure horror and sadness. "Oh damn. Were you... Were you together? That sucks. But if you were, you should know there was a reason for all this. Red- and hell, he was, is, and will ever be red. He just took one or six or seven for the team! So take a damn look." Negan shouted still holding the bat in front of Rosita, but you were most focused on Daryl who kept moving slightly on his knees and you knew he was about to do something.

"Leave her alone!" You suddenly shouted, your voice coming out shaky yet assertive. You glanced over at Daryl who was watching you with wide eyes as he slowly shook his head begging you with his eyes to stop talking. But you had to do something, Negan couldn't do that to Rosita, her and Abraham use to be together and if you didn't speak up, you knew Daryl would have done something and you didn't want Negan's attention on him after what he did to Abraham.

"Excuse me Darling, but I was not talking to you." Negan said as he walked away from Rosita until he was standing in front of you, holding the bat over his shoulder as he stared down at you. "Well damn you're finally crying now. I bet this man meant a lot to you and your group, you have all probably been together for a long time. Take a look at this, Darling." Negan teased as he pointed the bat at you face but you refused to look at it, your eyes staring straight at him ignoring the bat completely.

"Take a damn look!" He shouted causing you to jump, but before you could do anything you saw Daryl spring up from his seated position as he punched Negan in the jaw. You heard Rick mumble something from your left but you were too focused on Daryl, watching as he went to grab Negan again but his men grabbed him, pinning him to the ground as Dwight aimed the crossbow at the back of Daryl's head.

"No!" You screamed as you ran towards Dwight, but someone grabbed you from behind pulling you backwards. Without thinking, you slammed your leg back kicking the man in the groin as he let go of you but before you could try get Dwight away from Daryl someone else grabbed your shoulder and threw you to the ground. You landed on your hands and knees with a heavy thud. You glanced over at Daryl who was watching you with wide eyes, unable to do anything as the men still had him pinned to the ground. Suddenly someone kicked you in stomach causing you to fall to the ground on your side, but that didn't stop the man from kicking you again and again and again. Searing pain erupted through your stomach as you curled in on yourself trying to protect the baby, but it didn't do much against the man's steel cap boots.

"Don't!" Daryl yelled trying to get the man to stop but you knew there was nothing he could do until the man finally stopped, leaving you lying on the ground holding your stomach as tears poured down your face. Your stomach hurt from the kicks you just received, but it was the occasional sharp cramp you'd feel in your abdomen that made you panic.

"No. That? Oh, my! That is a no-no. The whole thing- not one bit of that shit flies here." Negan shouted, but you couldn't see him from where you were laid.

"Do you want me to do it? Right here." You heard Dwight say and you knew he was referring to Daryl. You forced yourself to look up at Daryl who was ignoring Dwight completely as looked at you before Negan grabbed his hair holding his head up slightly.

"No. No, you don't kill that, not until you try a little." Negan answered as the men began dragging Daryl back in line as someone grabbed your arm pulling you back between Michonne and Abrahams body. You were half sitting and half lying on the ground as the cramping in your abdomen got worse causing you to wince as you grabbed your stomach. You could feel Michonne looking down at you in panic and you knew Daryl was doing the same before Negan continued to talk.

"Anyway that's not how it works. Now, I already told you people, first one's free. Then what did I say? I said I would shut that shit down! No exceptions. Now, I don't know what kind of lying assholes you've been dealing with but I am a man of my word. First impressions are important." Negan stated as he walked towards Daryl and your heart dropped. No. Not Daryl don't kill him. Please, no.

"I need you to know me. So back to it." Negan said as lifted the bat up but before he swung it down he turned away from Daryl and bought the bat down against Glen's head. Everyone gasped as you heard Maggie cry. You didn't want to watch but you couldn't look away as Glen slowly sat up again, his face bashed in from the bat as he tried to speak.

"Buddy, you still there? I just don't know. It seems like you're trying to speak, but you just took a hell of a hit. I just popped your skull so hard, your eyeball just popped out, and it is gross as shit!" Negan said as Glen looked over at Maggie and you could feel tears pouring down your cheeks but you didn't care, all you could focus on was Glen. Maybe if you didn't try get Dwight away from Daryl Negan wouldn't be doing this. You shouldn't have tried to fight, Glen is going to die because of it.

"Maggie. I'll find you." Glen stuttered causing her to cry harder.

"Oh, hell. I can see this is hard on you guys. I am sorry. I truly am. But I did say it. No exceptions!" Negan shouted as he swung the bat at Glen to finished the job. You looked away watching Daryl who was staring at Glen, flinching every time the bat connected to his bashed in head.

"Lucille is thirsty. She is a vampire bat." Negan said with a laugh swinging his bat around as he looked over at all of you. "What? Was the joke that bad?"

"I'm gonna kill you." Rick muttered and you glanced over at Rick silently praying for him to shut up, we can't lose him too, we can't lose anymore people.

"Simon what did he have, a knife?" Negan questioned looking somewhere behind you all at one of his men.

"Uh, he had a hatchet. An axe." Simon responded and Negan chuckled before looking back down at Rick.

"Simon's my right-hand man. Having one of those is important. I mean, what do you have left without them? A whole lot of work. Do you have one? Maybe one of these fine people still breathing? Oh. Or did I." Negan said motioning towards his bat as he sighed. "Give me his axe." He ordered taking the axe from Simon before he grabbed Rick by the collar of his shirt pulling him towards the RV. "I'll be right back. Maybe Rick will be with me. And if not, well, we can just turn these people inside out, won't we? I mean the ones that are left."

You watched helplessly as Rick was dragged into the RV by Negan. Your family around you sobbing as they watched the vehicle drive off to God knows where, but you weren't focused on the RV anymore, the cramping in your abdomen getting worse and worse by the minute and you knew something was seriously wrong. You can't lose this baby too, not after all of this.

You bit your lip to stop a groan escaping your lips, the pain increasing as you dropped your head staring at the ground, trying to control your breathing. You could feel the rest of your group watching you, knowing something was wrong but they all knew they couldn't do anything. You winced again unable to stop yourself, your hand still over your stomach as you squeezed your eyes shut from the pain

"Y/N?" Daryl called, his voice dry and broken as you opened your eyes again to find him watching you in panic, his eyes moving from your stomach back to your face.

"Hey! No talking, unless you want someone else to die." Simon's voice shouted causing you to quickly look away from Daryl not wanting someone to hurt him.

 


	4. Chapter 4

The sun was slowly rising by the time the RV returned, pulling up where it was parked a few hours ago. You knew Rick was still alive when you heard him breathing heavily as Negan dragged him back out the RV, dumping him out in front of the group.

"Here we are. Let me ask you something, Rick. Do you even know what that little trip was about? Speak when you're spoken to." Negan ordered causing you to look up at the two of them as you watched the next few minutes unfold around you. You weren't really paying much attention, too focused on the pain in your stomach, but you knew everyone had a gun to the back of their head and when you looked up over at Rick and Negan you saw Carl lying on the ground with Rick holding his axe above his arm. Oh no.

"Rick." Negan suddenly said just he was about to cut Carl's arm and you heard everyone around you sigh softly with relief before Negan began talking again. "You answer to me. You provide for me. You belong to me, right? Speak when you're spoken to! You answer to me. You provide for me. You belong to me, right?!" Negan yelled as he grabbed Ricks jaw who quickly nodded.

"Right." Rick gasped as Negan let him go standing up to look over at the rest of you.

"That is the look I wanted to see. We did it all of us, together even the dead guys on the ground. Hell, they get the spirit award, for sure. Today was a productive damn day! Now, I hope, for all your sake that you get it now that you understand how things work. Things have changed. Whatever you had going for you that is over now." Negan stated as his eyes scanned over the group of you before he stopped at Daryl.

"Dwight, load him up." Negan ordered pointing his bat at Daryl and you stared in absolute shock as Dwight grabbed Daryl by the shoulders pushing him towards the van.

"No!" You screamed sitting up slightly straighter as you watched Dwight shove Daryl into the back of the van. "Don't! Please. Take me instead. No! Daryl!" You shouted, tears pouring down your cheeks, but you could see Daryl shaking his head from inside the van telling you shut up as Dwight slammed the doors shut.

"He's got guts. Not a little bitch like someone I know. I like him. He's mine now. But you still want to try something? 'Not today, not tomorrow?' I will cut pieces off of... Hell's his name?" Negan questioned, kneeling next to Rick as he looked over at Simon.

"Daryl." The man replied, and Negan chuckled.

"Wow. That actually sounds right. I will cut pieces off of Daryl and put them on your doorstep. Or better yet, I will bring him to you and have you do it for me." Negan said as he patted Rick on the back before standing up looking over at all of you. "Ahh! Welcome to a brand-new beginning, you sorry shits! I'm gonna leave you a truck. Keep it. Use it to cart all the crap you're gonna find me. We'll be back for our first offering in one week. Until then ta-ta." Negan said as he threw Rick's axe onto the ground before he and his men all climbed into various cars, driving off leaving nothing but a truck and the RV for you.

Nobody moved. You glanced over at the group for a second, everyone sitting on the ground with their heads down, still trying to process what just happened. You moved slightly so you were sitting down on your side, leaning on your right arm as you wrapped your left one around your stomach trying to dull the cramping pain coming from abdomen. They took Daryl. He's gone...

"Maggie... Maggie." You heard Rick call causing you to look up to find her slowly walking towards Glen's body. She looked so pale and weak, but you were glad she didn't have the fever or pain anymore. "Maggie you need to sit down. We need to get you to the Hilltop." Rick said as he stood up walking over to her.

"You need to get ready." Maggie replied in a broken voice as she continued walking towards Glen.

"For what?" Rick asked as he watched her cautiously.

"To fight them." She replied as Rick reached her side with a sad expression.

"They have Daryl. They have an army. We would die, all of us." Rick said softly but Maggie shook her head as you looked away, unable to watch the conversation anymore.

"Go home. Take everybody with you. I can get there myself." You heard Maggie say.

"You can barely stand up." Rick responded.

"You need to go to Alexandria. You were out here for me. I can make it now. I can't have you out here. I can't have you all out here anymore. I need you to go back." Maggie sobbed as a tear rolled down your cheek hearing the pain in her voice. She just lost her husband and now her baby is going to grow up without a father... You just lost your husband too but he's still alive, he has to be still alive, but God knows what Negan is doing to him.

"Maggie, we're not letting you go." Michonne's voice said as you stared at the ground unable to move.

"You have to." She replied before Rick spoke again.

"It's not gonna happen."

You heard someone stand up from your left, but you didn't look to see who. "I'm taking her. I'm gonna get her there. I'm gonna keep her safe. I'm not giving you a choice." Sasha's voice said.

"I'm taking him with me." Maggie replied, her voice breaking at the end causing you to cry silently, hoping nobody noticed. You could hear the others all begin to move as they carried Glen and Abraham over to the truck, but you couldn't move. The cramping in your stomach almost too much to handle, the thought of losing your baby and the thought of Daryl being tortured by Negan kept you frozen where sat, unable to move.

"Y/N." Someone said softly as they crouched down next to you touching your shoulder gently, snapping you out of your thoughts. You looked up to find Carl kneeling next to you and you couldn't help the stray tears that fell from your eyes as the boy pulled you in for a hug. "Y/N, we have to go." He whispered and you nodded knowing he was right, but as you tried to move the pain flared through your abdomen causing you to quickly stop with a wince as you grabbed your stomach. Carl watched in worry not knowing what to do as you felt something wet between your thighs. What the hell?

In confusion you placed your hands on your thighs over the wet patch in your jeans and your heart dropped when you saw blood on your fingers.

"Dad! Y/N's bleeding." He suddenly shouted, his eyes wide with panic and you both knew what it meant. No, I can't lose this baby. I can't lose both Daryl and our baby.

In a split-second Rick dropped to his knees in front of you, his red brimmed eyes looking over you trying to find the injury his son was talking about and you could pinpoint the exact moment he saw what he was referring to. He froze staring at the blood on your jeans, obviously realising what was happening but you had a feeling that it was too late, your baby was gone.

"Sasha is taking Maggie to Hilltop, you need to go there too." Rick said softly, and you nodded letting Carl and Rick help you up as they slowly walked you towards the truck.

"I'll get them to Hilltop, you guys get back to Alexandria." Sasha said over her shoulder as Rick helped you sit down on the back seat as Maggie sat in the passenger seat.

"They took Daryl." You whispered closing your eyes and shaking your head as Rick placed his hand on your shoulder.

"Daryl is the toughest man I know, he will be okay. You need to focus on yourself and your baby. The doctor at Hilltop will make things better, Y/N." Rick replied trying to comfort you and you nodded before he shut the door as Sasha started the truck. You watched out the window as the others climbed into the RV before you drove off towards Hilltop.

-

You were driving for nearly an hour before the Hilltops walls came into sight. The bleeding had stop and the cramps had died down slightly which was good, but you couldn't bring yourself to be happy not when there was a chance that you might have just had a miscarriage and that Daryl wasn't here.

"Hey! Open the gates, we're from Alexandria!" Sasha shouted out the window at the guards at Hilltop before the two large gates opened as Sasha quickly drove in, parking the truck near the trailers figuring the doctor would be in one of them.

"What's happening? Are you guys alright?" Jesus' voice shouted as Sasha climbed out the truck, looking between you and Maggie, clearly unsure who she would help first.

"Take Maggie, get her to the doctor first. I'll be fine." You responded, and Sasha gave you an appreciative nod before jogging over to Maggie's passenger door and helping her out.

"What happened to her?" Jesus asked, his voice now closer as you saw him run over to the two women.

"Something was wrong with her baby, so we tried to get her here but then Negan and the Saviours came. They killed Glen and Abraham, I'm gonna burry them but she needs to see your doctor first, which trailer?" Sasha questioned, her voice shaky as she fought back tears while supporting Maggie besides her.

"Dr Carson is in the third trailer, I will show you." Jesus replied but Sasha shook her head.

"Y/N is in car, she's pregnant but the Saviours hurt her and the baby badly, help her. I can take Maggie." Sasha explained before she began walking Maggie towards the infirmary as Jesus opened your car door.

"Hey, it's going to be alright Y/N. Can you walk?" He asked and you nodded, slowly climbing out the car as Jesus grabbed your shoulder to stop you from falling over. "It's okay, let me help you." He said softly as the two of you slowly walked towards the trailer.

"What happened to her?" Dr Carson questioned as you and Jesus walked into the trailer, you looked around and spotted Maggie lying on the hospital bed, but you couldn't see Sasha, she must have already left to bury Abraham and Glen.

"She's pregnant, but got hurt. She's in pain and I think she was bleeding." Jesus answered for you and you saw Maggie sit up slightly looking over at you in worry.

"Get her onto this bed. Maggie is stable, but this woman might not be." Dr Carson suddenly said as Jesus helped you lay down on the bed. You told him to go help Sasha, she shouldn't have to bury them by herself. Jesus didn't want to leave you, not while you were like this, but you insisted, and he reluctantly listened and left to help Sasha.

You watched the doctor as checked your vitals and he told you that you were okay, but he wasn't sure about the baby. "How far along are you?"

"Two, three months maybe." You guessed, and he nodded before he began to set up some sort of machine as he held something to your stomach. He glanced over the scars and fresh bruises along your stomach but didn't say anything as he began to focus on what he was doing, but after a few minutes he sighed.

"I'm sorry Y/N, but you have had a miscarriage." Dr Carson informed, and you closed your eyes as you felt tears rising. "You should take it easy for the rest of the day though." He added as you opened your eyes and nodded unable to do anything else as you felt tears slowly dripping down your face. You wanted nothing more than for Daryl to be with you right now. You wanted to hug him, feel his strong arms wrapped around, your head resting on his chest. You wanted that. You wanted him here with you, but Negan took him from you and the Saviours took your baby from you.

"I'm so sorry Y/N." Maggie said as you sat up on the bed and you gave her a sad smile. You knew you would have been balling your eyes out right now, but your body just couldn't cry anymore, the past 24 hours had taken its toll on you.

You stayed in the infirmary with Maggie wanting to make sure she and her baby were okay. Dr Carson said there was only a small separation of the placenta from the uterus and that the baby was fine, but Maggie had to rest for the next few days.

You helped Maggie get up insisting that she rests, but she wanted to go visit Glen and you couldn't say no to her for that.

"Take it steady now, there's steps outside the door." You said opening the door as Sasha quickly sat up from the steps relieved to see the two of you up and walking.

"You guys okay?" She asked as you both walked down the steps towards her.

"Where is he? Where are they both?" Maggie asked, and Sasha nodded over her shoulder as the two of you followed her around the back of Hilltop where two graves were by the fence.

You stood back leaning against the fence giving the two women some space, you couldn't really hear what they were saying too focused on your own thoughts.

"He told me that you're gonna be alright. He said you'll just have to take it easy for the next few days." Sasha said to Maggie as you fiddled your wedding ring on your finger not knowing what to do. Sasha glanced over at you with a sympathetic smile and you knew Maggie told her that you lost your baby, but you couldn't bring yourself to say anything.

"He told me that we have to say. That we, um. He says its better if he's close, just in case, till the baby is born." Maggie replied and Sasha nodded.

"Then we'll stay." She stated, and you smiled softly as you looked down at the ground, you were glad Maggie had Sasha here to look after her because you knew you couldn't stay here. You had to go back to Alexandria, to see what Rick's plan was. He had to have a plan, we can't just work for Negan, that's no way to live and he has Daryl, we need to come up with a plan and get him back.

"It's nice to see you guys up." Jesus' voice said, and you looked up to find him walking over to Sasha and Maggie with flowers in his hand as he began to replace the old ones on the grave. "I read somewhere that blue flowers inspire strength and calming."

"What about green?" Maggie sniffled as she looked down at the flowers with a soft smile on her face.

"Release." Jesus answered placing a hand on Maggies shoulder before he looked over at you where you were still standing against the wall.

"Thank you for helping Sasha bury them here." You said nodding towards Glen and Abrahams grave, not wanting to talk about how you had lost your baby even though by the look in Jesus' eyes he knew already, but before he could say anything about it Gregory appeared.

"Thank God you're finally awake. You people said you got them all." Gregory stated as he walked over to Maggie, Sasha and Jesus but you chose to hang back for a while. You hated Gregory, he was an arrogant pig and you didn't trust him at all.

"We thought we did. It was just an outpost." Maggie replied.

"H-how many of them were there." Gregory asked as you leant your head back against the fence watching as the four of them continued talking and arguing for a few minutes. It was clear Gregory wanted no part with Alexandria, but there was no way you were gonna let him kick Maggie out.

"You can stay the night but leave in the morning." Gregory stated as he began walking off and you shook your head walking over to the group of them.

"We'll talk more about it tonight." Jesus said causing Gregory to stop and turn around.

"No, I made my decision."

"I'm just saying that maybe-" Jesus tried to say before the older man cut him off.

"Do you want to go back with them?" Gregory asked staring at him.

"I'll take them back." Jesus simply replied but Gregory shook his head.

"I meant-" Gregory began to say but this time Jesus cut him off.

"I know what you meant." He replied sternly. You were glad Jesus was on your side. When Rick and Daryl first bought him back to Alexandria you hated him for trying to steal from Daryl and Rick. But once he introduced you to Hilltop and helped you guys take out the Saviours at the satellite outpost you changed your mind about him and considered him a friend, Gregory on the other hand not so much.

"So it's settled then." Gregory stated but before he could start to walk off Sasha started talking.

"Maggie is pregnant and Y/N just had a miscarriage-" Sasha said.

"Well that's their mistakes." Gregory muttered causing you to snap, your hands balled into a fist by your side, sudden anger washing over as you ran towards him. That son of a bitch. He had no right to say!

"Y/N, don't." Jesus shouted grabbing your arms stopping you from punching Gregory just in time as you screamed in frustration glaring at the older man who looked at you for a few seconds and you knew he was intimidated by you, so you held his stare before he walked away.

"He says anything like that again I'm gonna break his fucking nose." You muttered kicking the rock by your foot in frustration as Jesus let go of you.

"I will talk to him in the morning. If you guys want I can show you were you can sleep." Jesus said but Maggie and Sasha shook their heads.

"We're going to stay here for a little bit longer." Sasha said motioning towards the graves and he nodded before looking at you.

"Sleep sounds good, I don't even care that the sun is still up." You responded, you hadn't slept much in the past 48 hours so you weren't about to decline the mans offer.

-

***Alexandria***

"Negan, somethin' you might wanna see." One of the Saviours called holding a video camera, walking towards Negan who was standing in the middle of the street in Alexandria taking in the large community. Rick was standing next to him while Daryl stood a few metres away, trying to look around Alexandria for any sign of you. He didn't want you to see him like this. He knew he looked awful, but there was nothing he could do about it. He was still alive and sooner or later he'll break out of the Sanctuary and get back to Alexandria, back to you. But were you okay? Was the baby okay? The Saviours hurt you. He couldn't get the image of you lying on the ground whimpering in pain while holding your stomach. Shewere in a lot of pain when Dwight pushed him into the van. Is she alright now? Where is she?

"Well, well, well. What do we have here? I got my fingers crossed for a little freaky-deaky." Negan said as he grabbed the video camera turning it on. Daryl wasn't sure what was playing on the camera and he didn't care. Where were you? You had to be here somewhere, but why hasn't she come out after hearing all the noise and the Saviours?

"Jee-hee-sus! Is that you Rick, underneath all that man-bush? I would have not messed with that guy. But that's not you anymore is it? Nope." Negan stated handing the recorder back to his man as he began to glance around Alexandria like he was trying to find something.

"Whatever happened to that badass chick, you know the one who wasn't afraid to talk back to me? She's married to Daryl, right? My men didn't beat her too badly, he only kicked her a few times, yet she looked like she was in a lot of pain. Where is she?" Negan questioned catching Daryl's attention.

"She's pregnant! And your men kicked the shit out of her!" Rick exclaimed angrily as he stared at Negan who looked almost shocked at the news.

"Shit, had I'd known that I wouldn't have let my men hurt her... or maybe I would have. Her husband did land a solid punch to my face." Negan replied as he turned around glaring at Daryl who looked down at the ground trying to calm the anger growing within him. "Where is she though? I haven't seen her yet."

"She isn't here, she went out on a supply run." Rick answered, and Daryl relaxed slightly, glad that you were safe and away from Negan.

"What about that sick girl then? That seemed like a hell of a stressful night for her. The way she was carrying on, she was married to number two, right? Careful. Careful how you're looking at me Rick." Negan warned causing Rick to quickly look away. "Widows, especially ones that look like that, they are special. I love 'em. Right after their husbands go, they are just empty inside. But usually not for long. I was nearly gonna kill Daryl, so I could get his badass wife." Negan joked with a chuckle as Daryl's hands turned into fists by his side as he took a step towards Negan who grinned. "Easy there tiger. You wouldn't want me to kill another one of these fine people here do you? Lucille here would be more than happy to."

Daryl stared at him for a few more seconds before looking back at the ground as he took a deep breath and Negan chuckled.

"I would love to see the widow. Where is she?" Negan questioned looking at Rick who didn't know what to say.

"Care to pay your respects?" Gabriel suddenly asked from behind as Negan quickly turned around.

"Ho-ly crap! You are creepy as shit, sneaking up on me, wearin' that collar with that freaky-ass smile." Negan responded pointing towards the other man.

"My apologies. I'm Father Gabriel." He replied with a smile.

"She didn't make it?" Negan asked looking back over at Rick who shook his head looking at the ground. Daryl almost believed them, but he saw the slight hesitation on Ricks face when Negan asked where Maggie was, she must be at Hilltop or something, she didn't look too good that night. Daryl thought to himself before he followed Negan and the others, silently keeping an eye out for Y/N, but he hoped she stayed out scavenging until the Saviours were gone even though he wanted nothing more than to see her. Even if it was just for a second. He would give anything to see her and hear her speak. God, he hoped she was okay.


	5. Chapter 5

Jesus showed you his trailer. There were two beds and couch with a fold out mattress. Jesus insisted for you to take one of the beds, but you couldn't do that. This was his home, so you took the fold out couch along with a pillow and blanket he gave you. The two of you sat there and talked for a while. You told him what happened with the Saviours and how Negan took Daryl.

He then changed the topic to something lighter and asked how you and Daryl met so you told him about Maggie's fathers farm and how you stumbled upon it with Sophia. Jesus in return told you how he found Hilltop, Gregory was running it before he even got there. He said he found it hard getting close to people when he first arrived at the Hilltop and you understood that. You were scared to get close to Ricks group when you arrived at the farm, not wanting to get attached to people again. Even after a few years at the Hilltop he told you he still found it difficult to get close to anyone, neighbours, friends, boyfriends. You smiled when he said that, happy that he came out to you even though the two of you barely knew each other.

Jesus promised he would talk Gregory into letting you all stay before he left the trailer to go find Maggie and Sasha. Once he left you climbed onto the couch, folding the blanket over you before managing to fall sleep.

-

"Y/N wake up!" Sasha shouted causing you to quickly sit up in bed looking around for the sudden danger, but you all you found was Maggie and Sasha looking through the small window of the door. Wait is that music playing outside? It's the middle of the night, what the hell is going on?

"The gates are open. There's fires. The music is coming from a car. The door is locked." Sasha explained as she tried yanking on the door handle. You glanced around room trying to look for something to help. There had to be another way out of here. You thought to yourself when your eyes landed on the small window on the roof. Perfect.

"Help me with this." You said grabbing one of the chairs as you climbed onto the table before standing on top of the chair as you opened the small window above you. Sasha held the chair steady as you lifted yourself up onto the roof. You could hear Maggie and Sasha talking back in the trailer, but you zoned them out as you took in the scene in front of you. There was a car in the middle of the yard where the loud music was coming from along with a few fires around the area drawing walkers into the community through the open gates. I need to close those gates first, we can deal with the music once the gates are shut.

You jumped down from the roof and ran towards the walkers that were entering the community. Pulling your hunting knife out from your belt you began stabbing the walkers one by one, wishing you had your bow with you.

You kicked the walker in front of you to the ground when another grabbed your shoulder. You quickly spun around about to the stab it when an arm blocked you and you realised it was Jesus.

"Human. Not dead." He shouted over the music and you gave him an apologetic look before you stabbed the walker coming up behind Jesus. "Thanks. We need to shut the gates, can you handle these walkers while Sasha and I get to the gates?"

"Yeah, but what about the music?" You shouted glancing towards the car when you spotted Maggie reversing the tractor towards it. Well that's one way to shut the music off. "Never mind. Go!" You shouted before turning back to the walkers near you, gripping your knife tighter.

-

When the sun began to rise Jesus, Sasha and Maggie went to go talk to Gregory about why he didn't help last night and to get him to let Maggie stay. You didn't go with them into the Barrington House or mansion as you referred it to. If you had to listen to Gregory say more shit to the four of you then you would knock him out. Instead you helped the Hilltop's workers who were dragging the walker's bodies into piles and burning them.

"Saviours!" One of the Hilltop men shouted from the guard platform as everyone quickly rushed back towards their trailers and homes obviously wanting to avoid the Saviours at all cost. Shit. Where do I go? They can't find me here. You quickly grabbed a long black hooded jumper from someone's clothes line making a mental note which clothes line it was from so you could return it later.

You quickly put the jumper on pulling the hoodie up over your head covering your distinct Y/H/L Y/H/C hair as you ran towards the watch platform, climbing up the ladder so you could blend in with the two guys standing watch. They knew you were from Alexandria and handed you one of their spears to help you blend in. You gave the man a grateful nod as the other man opened the gates allowing the Saviours vehicles to drive in. You watched as the vehicles came to stop, men climbing out the different vehicles but what caught your attention was the man climbing out the black truck. The tall man with the moustache, Simon. He was Negan's right-hand man and looked to be in charge of these Saviours as they all walked towards the mansion. Negan wasn't with them.

Your plan to blend in seemed to work, the Saviours didn't pay the guards any attention. Too focused on looking around the community for items that caught their eyes. You hoped Maggie and Sasha were able to find a hiding place, you knew they were in the main building which is where Simon and most the Saviours were at the moment.

Nearly an hour passed before the Saviours exited the community, but they were still loading up their vehicles outside the gates. You spotted Maggie walking out the mansion towards the graves so you turned your attention back to the Saviours wanting to make sure they all leave without causing any trouble.

You stayed up on the guard platform for most of the day, even after the Saviours left. You had nothing better to do and it gave you time to think. But once the sun started to set you figured you should head back to the trailer and make sure Maggie and Sasha were okay.

"Enid! What are you doing here?" You questioned as you walked into the trailer to find Maggie, Sasha and Enid sitting at the table. You walked over to the young girl giving her a hug as she stood up from the seat before the two of you sat down at the table and Sasha handed you a bowl of soup.

"I came to make sure you guys were okay. Maggie told me what happened. Y/N I am so sorry." Enid said, and you nodded your thanks before changing the topic.

"I'm gonna go back to Alexandria tomorrow. I want to see what Rick's planning before I try track the Saviours." You explained looking over at Maggie and Sasha.

"Wait what do you mean track the Saviours?" Sasha asked looking at you in confusion.

"We know they have outposts, but they have to have a main base somewhere, I can try track them." You replied as you fiddled with the spoon in your soup.

"Why do you want to find the Saviours base? They could see you and take you, or worse kill you!" Maggie exclaimed but you shook your head, you knew they wouldn't like what you were planning but you had to do it.

"I won't get caught, but even if I do get caught, what more could I lose? The Saviours are the reason I lost my baby and Negan has taken Daryl! I have to find their base and get him back. You can try to stop me but I'm leaving in the morning. I have to get Daryl back." You stated and Maggie sighed but nodded, clearly not liking the idea but she knew she couldn't stop you.

"When do you think you'll be back?" Sasha asked and you honestly had no idea.

"Don't worry, I will be back in a few days." You replied with a soft smile before you started eating the food in front of you.

-

You told Maggie and Sasha that you were gonna go to Alexandria first to grab your gun and bow and talk to Rick but that wasn't your plan. You had your knife and you had a trail from the Saviours vehicles from yesterday. The trail wasn't really clear, but you could tell through the leaves and dirt on the road which way they were heading so you headed that way as well.

You left before the sun was up and had been following the faint tracks for a few hours. You had a small backpack with a few bottles of water and canned food on your back, but other than that you had nothing else. You didn't need anything else, you had a weapon to defend yourself with and you had the Saviours trail, that was all you needed.

You came towards an intersection of four roads, you knew the road to the left took you to Alexandria, but you weren't sure about the other two roads. You had never taken this route when out scavenging or hunting before so you had no idea where the two different roads lead, but the tracks turned right at the intersection so that was where you were gonna go.

You walked for another hour or so, taking out a few walkers here and there. You knew you were getting close to the Saviours base, you could see what looked to be an old factory in the distance, maybe that's where the base was? The tracks were heading in that direction, but you just had no idea what you were gonna do once you found the base. It would be heavily armed and guarded, you weren't stupid, Negan had the numbers for it, so he would definitely have his people protecting the place. You just hoped they had a blind spot, somewhere where you could sneak in undetected and get Daryl.

You stopped for a few minutes taking a drink from the last water bottle when you heard the sound of a vehicle in the distance. You froze turning around where the sound seemed to be coming from. That had to be the Saviours. You thought to yourself and as the sound got closer you realised it was multiple vehicles approaching. Shit I can't stand out here in the middle of nowhere. You quickly ran behind the closest tree, crouching down behind it with your knife out just in case.

One by one the vehicles drove past, without a care in the world as they headed towards the large factory in the distance. But it wasn't until you saw the black truck that your heart sped up. It was Negan. But there was someone else sitting in the passenger seat and it wasn't until the truck drove past that you realised it was Eugene. Negan has Eugene. Why did he take Eugene? Shit, something must have happened at Alexandria. Did Negan kill anyone else? Was Rick okay? Carl? Michonne? Tara? Rosita? Aaron? Judith? Where the others okay?

"God damn it." You muttered to yourself as you watched the vehicles disappear in the distance, you were so close to Saviours base, but you had to go back to Alexandria, you had to make sure everyone was okay. You had memorised every road and every turn you had taken so once you knew the others were safe you would come back here and finish what you started.

-

You found an old beat up truck that was still in working condition which you managed to hotwire and within an hour and a half of driving you could see Alexandria's gates in the distance and you sighed with relief.

"Hey! Open the gates it's me." You shouted sticking your head out the window as you looked towards the guard post to find Rick standing there staring at you in disbelief before he quickly disappeared and within 30 seconds the gate opened as you climbed out the truck, walking through the gate.

You walked in, standing a few metres away as Rick shut the gate back up before he turned looking at you for a few seconds before he pulled you into a hug.

"You're here. Are you okay? Is the baby okay?" Rick suddenly questioned pulling away to let you speak and you quickly looked at the ground feeling tears burning in your eyes, you didn't want to cry. You had cried too much in the past few days and you were done with letting your emotions take over.

"I-I lost the baby... I don't wanna talk about it." You said softly still staring at the ground and before Rick could respond you heard the others running over to you.

"Y/N!" Michonne shouted as you turned around to find Tara, Rosita, Aaron, Eric and Carl who was holding Judith all walking towards the two of you with smiles on their faces. "Are you and the baby okay? You weren't in a good condition when Sasha took you to Hilltop."

"She lost the baby." Rick answered and you looked over at him with a sad smile, glad that he told them. But you didn't come all the way back to Alexandria for this, you came back to see what Negan and the Saviours did.

"What happened here? I saw Eugene in Negan's truck. What happened?" You questioned not giving the others anytime to respond as you stared at Rick.

"Negan came. Killed Spencer and Olivia. Eugene made a bullet for Rosita and she tried to kill Negan, it didn't work, and Negan took Eugene with him when he left." Rick explained, and you nodded taking in the news before you began to walk towards yours and Daryl's house. "Y/N what are you doing?"

"Getting my weapons, then I'm going back to Hilltop to tell Maggie and the others what happened and then I'm going to get Daryl back." You replied over your shoulder as you walked towards the house down the road.

"The Saviours took all our weapons." Rosita shouted causing you to stop. What did she just say?

"Crap. So, we have no guns?" You questioned turning back to them and Rick shook his head as other people from Alexandria began walking towards the group after hearing all the commotion. Did they take my bow as well? Someone is going to die if my bow is gone.

"Y/N isn't okay, there's something different about her." Rosita muttered so you couldn't hear as you walked off, but you could hear every word.

"She just lost her unborn baby and Daryl was taken. Giver her a break." Rick responded before you walked into your house.

Everything was broken and destroyed. The coffee table was flipped upside down, books and glass covered the floor and you didn't even want to look in the kitchen. Instead, you wondered into the lounge room and you sighed with relief when you spotted your bow on the floor next to the couch.

You grabbed it making sure it wasn't broken before holding it up in front of you as you pulled the string back till it touched your cheek. You smiled to yourself before slinging the bow strap over your shoulder and walking back out towards the gate where everyone was still standing.

"We'll visit the others at Hilltop in a few days and try talk Gregory into helping us fight the Saviours. Just don't go after them alone Y/N." Rick said once you reached the group, but you shook your head.

"If it was Michonne or Carl or Judith, you would do the same too, Rick. I have to try." You replied as you began walking towards the gate. Daryl would do it for you, no matter what the consequences were, you knew he would try and get you back.

"You don't even know if he's still alive, you'll just get yourself killed for nothing." A voice suddenly said causing you to snap your head around to find Tobin standing in front of the group staring at you with his arms crossed.

"What did you just say?!" You questioned, sudden anger taking over as you turned around to face him.

"I don't mean any disrespect. You're one of our leaders, Alexandria and the Hilltop need you especially against the Saviours and you can't do that when your dead. It's not worth the risk." Tobin stated as Rick took a step forward noticing your hands form fists by your side as you tried to control your anger.

"He's my husband!" You snapped glaring at the older man as he shook his head.

"He's probably dead already, it's not worth it." The man responded but that was it, you had enough with this asshole. You heard Rick shout at you to stop obviously knowing what you were about to do but there was no stopping you. Nobody talked about Daryl like that.

You took a few steps towards Tobin before slamming your fist into his jaw forcing the man to stumble backwards. Your knuckles erupted in pain but by the look on Tobin's face, his jaw hurt a lot more than your knuckles, but it wasn't enough. You grabbed him by the collar of his shirt and punched him square in nose before Rick pulled you off him.

"You say something like that again, I won't stop with a broken nose." You threatened glaring at Tobin who was holding his now bleeding nose as the others all stared at you in shock.

"Y/N!" Rick shouted from behind you, still holding your arms in case you started to fight again, but you shook your head shrugging off Ricks grip as you walked back to the gate opening it.

"I will see you guys later." You muttered not turning back as you closed the gate behind yourself and climbed into the truck. You glanced down at your now bloodied knuckles as you gripped the steering wheel tighter trying to forget what Tobin said. Daryl was alive. He had to be alive.

-

Your truck ran out of gas nearly an hour ago, but at least you were near Hilltop, so it wasn't too far to walk. But as soon as Hilltop's walls came into view so did the Saviours vehicles causing you to quickly duck into the woods out of sight as you sat and waited for them to leave.

By the time the Saviours left the sun was staring to set along the horizon and you knew Maggie wouldn't let you leave until the next morning, but you had to. You had to get Daryl back. 

"You're back! Kal open the gates." Maggie ordered as you looked up at the guard platform to find her standing there with a huge smile. At least that's a sign that she is feeling better.

"Negan killed Spencer and Olivia and has taken Eugene with him after he made Rosita a bullet." You shouted as the gates began to open and you walked in as Maggie climbed down the stairs. "I just came by to tell you and to grab a bottle of water."

"Wait, you're leaving? You can't leave." Maggie said grabbing your shoulder as you began walking towards the trailers to get some water, forcing you turn around to face her.

"I have to! I tracked the Saviours for miles. I nearly found their fucking base!" You yelled in frustration as you rubbed your hands over your face to try calm yourself down. "I have to go back out there and get Daryl. Who knows what Negan is doing to him! I have to-"

"Y/N stop!" Maggie shouted but it wasn't in anger, she almost sounded happy. You looked up at her in confusion and she was smiling. Why the hell is she smiling right now? "I will give you guys some privacy." She said before walking back towards the ladder to the guard platform as you watched her in confusion. What the hell is she talking about?

"Y/N?" A husky southern voice called and you froze, your heartbeat skyrocketing. You could recognise that voice anywhere, but it can't be him. That's it, you had finally reached your tipping point, you were going crazy.

Slowly you turned around towards the voice just to prove to yourself that you were hearing things, but as you did you spotted him. Daryl was here. He was actually here. You watched him for a few seconds as he came out from behind the trailers towards you, he was wearing a long sleeve black button down shirt with the sleeves rolled up in his signature Daryl style, he wasn't wearing his angle winged vest and you instantly knew the Saviours still had it. But Daryl was here. He was alive and that's all that mattered.

Tears began filling your eyes as you ran to him, it would have only been a couple seconds as the two of you ran towards each other, but it felt like a life time before you finally wrapped your arms around his shoulders as he hugged you spinning you around.

You hugged Daryl tightly afraid that if you let him go then he would be taken away from you again. You could feel Daryl shaking as he hugged you and you knew he was crying. You hugged him tighter pulling his head into the crook of your neck as you ran your fingers through his hair, you knew you had tears in your eyes, but you held them back. You had to be strong for Daryl right now, he must have gone through hell when he was with the Saviours, you had to be strong for him.

"I love you so much, Daryl." You whispered as he lifted his head to look at you before pulling you in for a kiss. His lips hit yours as he cupped your cheeks deepening the soft kiss before he pulled away as his eyes scanning you up and down to make sure you were okay. You were going to have to tell him about the miscarriage, but you had no idea how to say it.

"Are you okay? They hurt ya, is the baby okay?" Daryl asked his voice croaky from the crying as his hand slowly went to your stomach where the baby use to be and your heart broke, but you couldn't hold it back anymore as tears began falling down your cheeks.

"I-I lost the baby. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry." You sobbed looking down at the ground, unable to look Daryl in the eyes. It was your fault. You should have never shouted at Negan when he was taunting Rosita. "It's my fault." You mumbled as Daryl quickly pulled you into his chest letting you cry into him.

"It ain't ya fault Y/N. It's the Saviours, they did this." Daryl said as his kissed the top of your head before walking you over to one of the benches as you both sat down. "I shouldn't have left ya back at Alexandria. I was just so angry at Dwight, I didn't even process the fact that ya said you're pregnant until it was too late. Then when Dwight pulled me out that van I saw you sitting there with the rest of the group... I thought that was the end. I thought..." Daryl began to say but stopped as he looked up at the stars in the sky trying to gather his thoughts. He was opening up to you which was something he didn't do often and when he did it was only to you.

When Beth was killed, you saw how Daryl just shutdown, he barely said a word to you for a week. But, eventually he opened up to you about it. It took time, but he slowly let you back in and since then he stopped trying hide his issues and emotions from you because he knew you would help him and keep whatever he said between the two of you. You knew this was different from all the previous times something bad had happened. But Daryl would eventually talk to you about it, you wouldn't push him for answers, you knew better than that. If he wasn't ready to talk, you would only push him further away by trying to force him. So, you stayed silent, resting your head on his shoulder as you patiently waited for him to find the words he was looking for.

"They had me locked in a cell. Blasting this ridiculous happy song at all hours of the day. I was in the cell for a few days. They would give me bred with dog food once a day but that was it. Dwight eventually took me out the cell, making me work on their fence line chaining up walkers with other workers or prisoners I wasn't sure. I tried escapin' once, it didn't work and Negan told his men to teach me a lesson. After that they threw me back in the bloody cell." Daryl explained shaking his head as took a deep breath and you knew this was hard for him.

"You don't have to tell me if you don't want to." You said softly but Daryl shook his head before continuing.

"I was so close to givin' up Y/N, I didn't see a way out... But the thought of you and our unborn baby, it the only thing keeping me going. And when someone slipped me a key, I escaped and found Jesus sneaking around the place and he bought me here." He said and you nodded as you grabbed his hand holding in your lap. He wasn't telling you everything, you knew he left out pieces of information but he would tell you when he was ready. "Maggie told me ya went to Alexandria but convinced me to stay and wait for you to get back. I could tell something was wrong, but she just told me to wait for you. God, Y/N, I am so sorry ya had to go through the miscarriage alone. I'm your husband. I am meant to protect ya. Keep ya safe. But I couldn't do it."

"Hey." You suddenly said turning to face him as you lifted his chin up so he was looking at you. "You have kept me safe for all these years. The farm. The prison. Terminus. The church. Alexandria. I'm still alive because of you. You're my husband and I love you more than anything, but it wasn't your fault that you weren't here. This is on Negan and the Saviours and they will pay for what they have done." You said and Daryl nodded as he wrapped his arm around your shoulders pulling you close.

"I missed ya so much baby girl." Daryl said softly, kissing your forehead as the two of you sat on the bench staring up at the stars. You didn't want the moment to end. Just the two of you, sitting alone in the still night air. No walkers moaning. No guns firing. No people arguing. It was perfect and neither of you moved or talked for the next few minutes as you enjoyed the rare moment.

 


	6. Chapter 6

You woke up to the sun shining through the curtains of the spare room in the mansion at Hilltop that you and Daryl slept in last night. Jesus let the two of you stay in there, figuring you both wanted some privacy even though Gregory wasn't too happy about it.

You sat up in bed to find Daryl still sleep and you smiled at how cute he looked. He must have been so exhausted, you doubted he got much sleep at the Sanctuary which is what Negan's base is called apparently and you were right, his base was at that factory you saw.

When you and Daryl were lying in bed last night he told you a bit more about the Sanctuary and how Negan ran the place. He had an army and he had workers. There was no way Alexandria could fight against them, even with the Hilltop you still wouldn't have the numbers.

"Mornin'. What ya thinking about?" Daryl asked in his sleepy voice and you smiled forgetting how sexy he sounded like that. You looked down at Daryl as he rested his head in your lap letting you play with his long hair. Man, you had missed this.

"Just trying to think how we are gonna beat the Saviours." You replied softly, running your fingers gently through his hair as he closed his eyes with a soft moan to indicate that he heard you.

"What's on your knuckles?" Daryl suddenly questioned opening his eyes as he held your other hand in his and you completely forgot about the blood on your knuckles from your visit to Alexandria. "What happened?" He asked, clearly connecting the dots as sudden anger washed over him at the thought of someone fighting you. He sat up on the bed next to you, still holding your right hand brushing his fingers gently over your cut and bruised knuckles.

"I punched Tobin." You stated with a shrug as Daryl looked over at you through the strings of hair covering his face. "He was saying shit about how you were probably dead and that it was a waste of time for me to try find you. I guess I just kinda snapped and I punched him... twice."

"Twice?" Daryl questioned, his tone sounding surprised yet proud and you laughed softly but nodded.

"Punched him in the jaw and then I might have broken his nose." You said with a hint of remorse. Tobin wasn't a bad guy, he had never done anything bad against the group and always helped out around the community. But he shouldn't have said what he did. You looked over at Daryl who was watching you with a small grin. "What?"

"Nothin'. Just reminds me of the time back on the farm when ya joined the group. Ya were the first woman to stand up to Shane. I remember him yelling at ya expecting ya to coward away like all the others, but ya didn't. Ya stood your ground and shouted back at him and I could tell ya wanted to punch him." Daryl explained with soft chuckle but before you could reply someone knocked on the door.

"Hey, it's me, Jesus. I'm making breakfast in my trailer. Come over when you're ready." Jesus shouted from outside and you smiled.

"We'll be there in a minute." You shouted back as you began to climb out of bed and Daryl groaned. "We can't stay in bed all day." You replied glancing over at him as he leant back against the bed rest, the blanket covering his body sliding off exposing his bare chest and stomach. You bit your lip stopping yourself from smiling. You've been with Daryl for years, but you never get tired of that view. Although the bandage over his right shoulder bugged you. You knew Dwight shot him and you doubted the Saviours would have taken care of the wound properly. He told you that the doctor at Hilltop took a look at it and that it was healing nicely but you just hated the thought of Daryl being shot.

Looking away you walked over to the small bench and mirror taking your oversized shirt off, that one of the Hilltop women gave you. It was a comfy shirt and went down to your thighs, perfect for sleeping in. You began grabbing your tank top about to put it on when suddenly Daryl was standing behind you, his hands slowly tracing your stomach. You looked over at him through the mirror and he was staring at your stomach which was covered in your old scars and fading bruises from when the Saviours had beat you that night. You could see the frown on Daryl's face and the sadness and guilt that was shining through his eyes.

"Hey, look at me." You said softy as you leant back into his bare chest staring at him through the mirror until he finally looked up catching your eyes. "It's going to be okay. I love you." You said, turning your head as you kissed him on the cheek gently and he nodded grabbing the back of your neck kissing you properly before the two of you got changed.

"Sasha! Enid!" You heard Maggie shout from outside as you and Daryl walked out the room to find Jesus walking down the steps.

"What's going on out there?" Daryl questioned glancing at Jesus as you slung your bow over your shoulder holding onto the strap, following the two men out the mansion.

You had to blink a few times to adjust your eyes to the sudden brightness and that's when you spotted Rick, Michonne, Carl, Tara and Rosita all walking through the gates. Thank God they decided to come. You watched as they all started hugging Maggie, Sasha and Enid before Rick looked up noticing you guys walking towards them and his eyes went wide with shock when he saw Daryl with you.

He quickly looked down at Maggie obviously trying to workout if he was seeing things or not, but Maggie nodded before Rick began walking towards the three of you. You and Jesus slowed down your pace, standing a few metres away from the two brothers, letting Daryl and Rick have some space as they hugged each other tightly. Your heart melted watching the two hug, you knew Daryl was close to tears and Rick wasn't far off either. Rick looked over at you as he hugged Daryl and you gave him a nod before Tara and Carl gave you hug. You saw most of them yesterday, but you didn't get a chance to talk to them before you left again.

Michonne gave Daryl a hug before he turned back to Rick pulling out Ricks signature weapon, his Colt Python revolver. You had no idea how Daryl managed to find it at the Sanctuary, but he showed it to you last night and you couldn't wait to see Ricks face he saw it.

Daryl held the gun for his best friend and you smiled as Rick stared at the gun in disbelief as he grabbed it and you knew he was still trying to process the fact that Daryl was back and that he had his revolver.

He checked the chamber of the gun which you knew was fully loaded before he looked over at the group, his eyes glancing over everyone and you knew he was getting ready to fight against Negan and the Saviours, he had that look in his eye and by the way the others were nodding they had all talked it through.

Daryl reached for your hand as you gave him a soft smile before all of you followed Rick as he walked towards the mansion, in search for Gregory.

-

"No! No way in hell. That was not the deal." Gregory shouted as he turned away from the window in his office to face all of you. "You people swore you could take the Saviours out, and you failed. So any arrangement we had is now done. We aren't trade partners, we aren't friends, and we never met. We don't know each other. I owe you nothing. In fact, you owe me for taking in the refugees, at great person risk."

"Oh, you were very brave staying in here while Y/N, Maggie and Sasha saved this place. Your courage was inspiring." Jesus said sarcastically, and you smiled glad that Jesus was taking your side over Gregory's.

"Hey, don't you work for me? Aren't we friends?" Gregory asked glaring at Jesus before Rick stepped forward in front of his desk.

"Gregory, we already started this." Rick stated motioning between the two of them before Gregory cut him off.

"You started it."

"We did. And we're gonna win." Rick stated but you could tell Gregory didn't agree.

"These are killers." He tried to argue, and you sighed as you leant back against the bookshelf next to Daryl, this was pointless. Gregory was never going to agree to fight against Negan.

"Is this how you want to live? Under their thumb, killing your people?" Rick questioned.

"Sometimes we don't get to choose what our life looks like. Sometimes, Ricky, you have to count the blessings you have." Gregory replied as you glanced around at your group and you could tell everyone was getting sick of his shit.

"How many people can we spare? How many people here can fight?" Maggie suddenly questioned catching the older man off guard as he turned to face her.

"We? I don't even know how many people we have, Margaret. And does it even matter? What are you gonna do? Start a platoon of sorghum farmers? 'Cause that's all we got. They grow things. They're not gonna want to fight."

"You're wrong. When people have the chance to do the right thing, they usually step up. I mean, people just-" Tara tried to say but Gregory cut her off and you felt your patience running thin for this man.

"Let me stop you before you break into song, okay? And by the way, who would train all this cannon fodder?"

"I will." Sasha and Rosita both quickly responded, and you grinned knowing Gregory wasn't expecting a response.

"Rhetorical, okay? I don't want to know. I never want to hear another word about any of it, ever." Gregory stated turning back to Rick and you shook your head as you took a step forward.

"It's not worth it. He's too scared to do anything about the Saviours! This is fucking pointless." You snapped throwing your hands up in defeat before leaning back against the bookshelf, crossing your arms.

"Would we be better off without the Saviours, yes or no?" Rick questioned leaning towards Gregory who shrugged his shoulders.

"Yeah. Sure. Okay." He muttered staring at Rick as Michonne began talking.

"So, what will you do to fix the problem?" She asked but Gregory shook his head.

"I didn't say we had a problem. You did. And what happens outside my purview is outside of my purview." He stated, and you rolled your eyes getting sick of him talking like that.

"What the hell, man? You're either with us or ya ain't. You're sitting over there talking out both sides of your mouth." Daryl shouted obviously getting fed up with the man's shit as well.

"I think I've made my position very clear. And I want to thank you for not being here today and not having this meeting with me or being seen on your way out. In other words, go out the back." The older man replied as Rick nodded towards the door indicating for everyone to leave the room. You walked out, hearing Rosita and Sasha mutter insults about Gregory.

"Well, we don't need him anyway." Daryl muttered as you all stood around the main area of the house looking at each other.

"Yeah, that's right. 'Cause we have Maggie and Sasha and Jesus here." Rick replied as the front door opened and Enid walked in.

"What's wrong?" Sasha asked noticing something had happened by the look on the girl's face.

"Nothing. Just come outside." Enid said motioning for the group to follow as she walked back outside. You glanced over at Daryl who shrugged before following the others outside to find a group of the Hilltop people waiting.

"Hey. So, if you don't remember, I'm Bertie. And I owe my life to you all, twice over. A bunch of us do. Enid says that you want Gregory to get us to fight the Saviours with you. Is that true?" Bertie asked looking at Maggie and you smiled. The people of Hilltop were starting to see Maggie as a leader here, soon they won't need Gregory in charge of the Hilltop.

"Yes." Maggie simply replied.

"Do you think we can win, that we really could beat them? Us?" She asked, and Maggie nodded. "Enid says you could show us the way. I'm ready." She said and the others around her hummed in agreement.

"It's a start." Michonne said glancing at Rick as you grabbed Daryl's hand intertwining your fingers.

"If we train them and get more-" You began to say before Rosita started talking.

"It still won't be enough." She said glancing at you and you nodded. The Saviours had too many people.

"Well, we find the right stuff, then maybe we don't need the numbers. Blow 'em up, burn 'em to the ground." Daryl suddenly said and you smiled to yourself, glad that Daryl was speaking up in the group.

"You said there weren't just soldiers with the Saviours, that there were workers there too. People didn't have a choice." Tara suddenly said but Daryl shook his head.

"We gotta win." He replied and you agreed with him. It's the lives of Alexandria and the Hilltop verses the lives of Negan's workers, that's not even debatable about which one you choose.

"We need more hands, another group. Negan has outposts. The geography, the distance works against us. We gotta get back. If they come looking for Daryl, we need to be there." Rick suddenly said and you felt your heartbeat began to rise at the thought of Negan taking Daryl away again.

"You don't have to go back. Not yet." Jesus suddenly said and you all turned around as he held out a walkie-talkie. "It's one of theirs, long range. We can listen in, keep track of them."

"So, if we're not going back, what are doing then?" Michonne asked glancing around at the group before Jesus spoke up again.

"I think it's time we introduced you to Ezekiel. King Ezekiel." Jesus said with a grin. Did he just say King?

-

You followed Jesus and two of the Kingdom's guards through the large steel gates and you froze taking in the large community. It was like Alexandria and the Hilltop combined. There were large red buildings with different plants and crops growing everywhere. There were people out walking around, men, women, children. All walking around, talking to each other while the kids played. You suddenly had a weird sense of déjà vu from when Aaron and Eric brought you all to Alexandria for the first time.

"Morgan?" Tara suddenly called catching your attention as you turned around to find the man walking towards you. How did he find the Kingdom? Does that mean Carol is here too?

"Hey." He said with a huge smile before giving Tara a hug as you walked over to him giving him one as well.

"How do you know each other?" One of the Kingdoms guards asked and you thought his name was Richard, but you weren't 100 percent sure.

"We go back to the start." Rick answered giving Morgan a nod.

"Well, the King is ready to see you." Richard stated, and Rick nodded as the others began following Richard into a building, but you waited with Rick and Daryl wanting to know where Carol was.

"Did you find Carol?" Rick asked turning his attention back to his old friend.

"Yeah, I did." Morgan replied as Daryl suddenly took a step forward.

"Where is she? Is she okay?" He questioned. You knew him and Carol had a very unique friendship. They're best friends and looked out for each other. You had to admit back at the prison you sometimes got a bit jealous of their friendship, they were very close. But you were glad that Daryl was letting more people inside his bubble, it was good for him and it allowed you to spend more time with Carol as well and the two of you became good friends.

"She was here and then she left. You know, she wasn't too happy with me following her. She wanted to get away from us, from everyone. But when I found her, she was shot. It was just a graze. I got her back here. They got doctors. They're good." Morgan explained and you shook your head trying to process all the information. Carol was shot and she was here, but then she left?

"Was it them?" You asked referring to the Saviours and Morgan nodded.

"It was. She had crossed with some of them and one of them followed her, tried to kill her but I stopped him. I killed him. I had to. Carol was here. She got help. Now she's gone." Morgan said looking between the three of you as you glanced at Daryl who stared at the ground and you knew hearing this hurt him, but he didn't say anything further as the two of you followed Rick into the building.

"Jesus! It pleases me to see you, old friend." Someone shouted as you enter the room and everyone suddenly took a step back, Daryl putting his hand on your shoulder to stop you from walking forward. You looked up at him in confusion before you looked around the room and that's when you saw it. A tiger. There is a living, breathing tiger. What the actual fuck? This King has a pet tiger? You stared at the beautiful creature trying to decide if it was going to attack, but it seemed to relax as it sat down next to the man holding his leash made of chains.

"Tell me, what news do you bring good King Ezekiel? Are these new allies you've brought me?" The King asked as he looked around the group of you, but none of you moved as you all stared at the tiger.

"Indeed they are, Your Majesty. This is-" Jesus began to say as he turned around expecting you all to be standing next to him, but you weren't and he grinned trying to hold back a laugh. "Oh right. I forgot to mention that-"

"Yeah, a tiger." Rick said, his voice sounding slightly unsure about the situation, but you figured if that tiger decided to go on a wild killing spree it would attack the King and his guards behind him first before you guys.

"This is Rick Grimes, the leader of Alexandria, and these are some of his people." Jesus introduced as you all began walking towards them, spreading out throughout the theatre type room. You stayed with Daryl, his hand still on shoulder and you smiled at his small protective gesture.

"I welcome you all to the Kingdom, good travellers. Now, what brings you to our fair land? Why do you seek an audience with the King?" He asked glancing over at all of you before focusing back on Rick.

"Ezekiel- King Ezekiel. Alexandria, the Hilltop and the Kingdom. All three of our communities have something in common. We all serve the Saviours. Alexandria already fought them once, and we won. We thought we took out the threat, but we didn't know then what we known now. We only beat one outpost. We've been told you have a deal with them, that you known them. Then you known they rule through violence and fear." Rick said, but you could see the way the King was glaring at Jesus throughout Ricks whole speech. What did Jesus do?

"Your Majesty, I only told them of the-" Jesus tried to explain before being cut off.

"Our deal with the Saviours is not known among my people, for good cause. We made you a party to that secret when you told us of the Hilltop's own travails, but we did not expect you to share-"

"We can help each other." Jesus cut in as you stood back with Daryl waiting to see how this panned out.

"Don't interrupt the King." Said a larger man with a red jacket said and you had to do a double take as you spotted the mallee weapon he was holding, it was some type of axe that reminded you of something you'd see during the medieval times.

"We bought you into our confidence. Why did you break it?" The King asked.

"Because I want you to hear Rick's plans." Jesus replied as the King looked over at Rick.

"And what plans have you, Rick Grimes of Alexandria?" He asked and you looked over at Rick hoping he could persuade this guy to join your side. He wasn't fooling you, he wasn't a King. But he was the leader of this community and if that is what they called him and what he wanted to be referred to as, well you didn't see a reason why not. The world had gone to shit and this Ezekiel guy found a way to make it work, so who says you can't be a King? There aren't any rules anymore.

"We came to ask the Kingdom, to ask you, to join us in fighting the Saviours, fighting for freedom for all of us." Rick explained and the King nodded taking in the information.

"What you are asking is very serious." The King responded and Rick nodded sadly.

"Several of our people. Good people. Were killed by the Saviours, brutally." Michonne began to explain before Morgan spoke up from the other side of the room.

"Who?" He asked and your heart dropped, he didn't know. He wasn't there, he doesn't know any of this yet. You glanced around at the group as they all dropped their heads, none of them wanting to say it.

"Abraham. Glen. Spencer, Olivia. Eugene was taken. They took Daryl. He escaped and every second he's out here, he's a target." You said, your tone a mixture of anger and sadness as Daryl squeezed your shoulder gently.

"You gonna say you were right?" Rosita questioned and Morgan shook his head as he looked down at the ground.

"No. I'm- I'm just real sorry they're gone." He said glancing over at Rosita before looking towards Rick.

"Negan murdered Glen and Abraham, beat them to death." Rick said shaking his head.

"The Saviours terrorised the Hilltop, set loose walkers just to make a point." You added staring the King. You weren't intimidated by him, he seemed like an alright person, but you'd rather leave the talking to Rick, he knew how to talk to people and how to get them to join him.

"He killed a Glen in front of his pregnant wife and his men beat Y/N and caused her to have a miscarriage." Sasha added pointing to you you with a sorry expression, knowing you didn't want to talk about it. You felt Daryl tense up behind you after the reminder of what happened, he wanted that baby and he didn't even get a chance to be happy with you about it before it was too late.

"I used to think the deal was something we could live with. A lot of us did. But that's changing. So lets change the world, Your Majesty." Jesus said.

"I want to be honest about what we're asking. My people are strong, but there's not enough of us. We don't have guns. Not enough, at least. Not enough weapons, period." Rick explained staring at the King before Richard began to speak.

"We have people. And weapons. If we strike first, together, we can beat them. Your Majesty, no more waiting for things to get worse beyond what we can handle. We set things right. The time is now." Richard said, he clearly didn't agree with the deal they had with the Sanctuary.

"Morgan, what do you think?" Ezekiel asked turning to the other man who stared at him for a few seconds before he realised he was asked to talk.

"Me?" He questioned and the King nodded.

"People will die. A lot of people, and not just the Saviours. If we can find another way, we have to. Maybe it's just about Negan. Just capturing him, holding him." Morgan responded and you shook your head, that wouldn't work.

"The hour grows late." Ezekiel stated, standing up as the tiger followed his lead, growling softly. This was it, the King isn't going to join us. "Rick Grimes of Alexandria you have given the King much to ponder."

"When I was a kid, my mother told me a story." Rick suddenly began to say. "There was a road to a kingdom, and there was a rock in the road. And people would just avoid it, but horses would break their legs on it and die, wagon wheels would come off. People would lose the goods they'd be coming to sell. That's what happened to a little girl. The cask of beer her family brewed fell right off. It broke. Dirt soaked it all up and it was gone. That was her family's last chance. They were hungry. They didn't have any money. She just sat there and cried, but she wondered why it was still there for it to hurt someone else. So, she dug at that rock in the road with her hands till they bled, used everything she had to pull it out. It took hours. And when she was gonna fill it up, she saw something in it. It was a bag of gold." Rick explained taking a step closer to the King.

"Alright." The man in the red jacket suddenly said obviously enjoying Rick's story.

"The king had put that rock in the road because he knew the person who dug it out, who did something, they deserved a reward. They deserved to have their life changed for the good. Forever." Rick finished and you watched Ezekiel as he took in what Rick just said, his eyes scanning over the group, then back over at his guards behind him.

"I invite you all to sup with us and stay till the morrow." Ezekiel offered but Rick sighed.

"Yeah, we need to get back home." Rick responded as you glanced over him and you could tell he was getting annoyed.

"I shall deliver my decree in the morn." The King stated and you knew that was the end of this conversation. You were just gonna have to wait till the morning, it's not like you had anything important to do. You just hoped the Saviours don't visit Alexandria while you were all away.

 


	7. Chapter 7

Morgan showed you all where you would spend the night and although there were enough rooms for all of you to have one for yourselves, you all stayed together in the larger bedroom. Rick and Michonne took the double bed on the left side of the room while Tara and Rosita shared the queen bed on the right. Sasha, Jesus and Carl took the three single couches along the wall while you and Daryl shared the larger three-seater couch.

It wasn't as comfortable as having your own rooms and beds but you guys have had worse, much worse. You were just grateful that you were together, that you and Daryl were together.

Daryl laid behind you, his back against the back of the couch with his arms wrapped around you, he had one of your hands intertwined with his as your thumb made soft circles over the back of his hand. You could feel his soft even breaths behind you and you smiled, glad that he had finally fallen asleep. You glanced around the dimly lit room noticing everyone was asleep until your eyes landed on Carl who was sitting on the other couch looking over everyone.

"Carl." You whispered softly not wanting to wake anyone as Carl turned towards you and smiled noticing you were awake.

"Hey." He whispered back, his eyes glancing at Daryl behind you before looking back at you.

"Can't sleep?" You asked softly but Carl shook his head and you looked at him in confusion.

"Someone's gotta keep watch. We don't know this place or these people and I am not letting anyone else die." Carl whispered causing you to smile. When did he grow up so fast? It just felt like the other day you were teaching him how to ride the old dirt bike back at the prison, even though Rick wasn't a fan of it. But the look of pure joy and happiness on Carls face when he rode around the prison in first gear was totally worth it. He reminded you so much of your little brother, Matthew. The two of them would have gotten along so well.

"You need to look after yourself too. Now get some sleep, alright? I will be up for a little while longer. Get some rest." You replied softly watching as he contemplated what to do.

"You need to sleep to. You have been through a rough few days, Y/N." He whispered kindly and you smiled shaking your head.

"I have rested at Hilltop for long enough, now shut up and sleep." You said unable to hide your smile as Carl laughed quickly rolling his eyes at you.

"You would have made a great mother. Good night Y/N." He whispered as he wrapped his blanket around his shoulders.

"Good night, little bro." You replied softly causing him to smile as he closed his eyes. He always wanted an older sibling and after Hershel's farm got over run you, Carl and Sophia all became really close. The kids took a liking to you, although you had no idea why. Daryl said once that it's because you always had a smile on your face, even during this screwed up world, you were always smiling and it made you easy to approach and talk to, that's why they took a liking to you. But, when Sophia got killed by a walker a few days after Judith was born, you and Carl become even closer. With Rick going a little crazy after Lori's death you were the one that was by Carls side and basically becoming like a big sister to the kid. Ever since then the two of you had stuck together.

-

"This is life here. Every day. But it came at a cost. And I wanted more of this. I wanted to expand. To create more places like this. Men and women lost their limbs. Children lost their parents because I sent them into battle against the wasted when I didn't need to." Ezekiel stated as you all looked around the Kingdom, walking down the road watching the children do archery lessons. You smiled sadly watching a little girl trying to shoot while her father gave her advice. It reminded you so much of when you were her age and your dad was teaching you to hunt in the woods with your compound bow.

"This is different." Rick replied glancing over at the group of you making sure you were all still with him before he turned back to the King.

"It isn't." Ezekiel responded but Rick shook his head.

"It is. The dead don't rule us. The world doesn't look like this outside your walls. People don't have it as good. Some people don't have it good at all." Rick explained and Ezekiel sighed glancing around at your group as you all stood in the middle of his town.

"I have to worry about my people." He stated but you heard Daryl scoff from besides you, bringing your attention back to the conversation happening in front of you.

"You call yourself a damn king. You sure as hell don't act like one." Daryl commented, his southern drawl thick as he looked over at you and you nodded supporting what he said.

"All of this came at a cost. It was lives, arms, legs." He replied, staring at Daryl as he pointed towards his people before walking back over to Rick. "The peace we have with the Saviours is uneasy, but it is peace. I have to hold on to it. Although the Kingdom cannot grant you the aid you desire, the King is sympathetic to your plight. I offer our friend Daryl asylum for as long as he requires it. He will be safe here. The Saviours do not set foot inside our walls."

"How long do ya think that's gonna last?" Daryl questioned staring at the King before grabbing your hand and walking off towards the gates. You could tell Daryl didn't want to stay here and you didn't want him to stay while the rest of you went back to Alexandria, but you knew this was the safest place for him while the Saviours are out there looking for him.

"Alright, open it up. We're goin'." Daryl shouted towards the guards by the gates who nodded as they began opening them.

"You're not." Rick suddenly said turning around to face Daryl as the others started walking out.

"I'm not staying here." Daryl responded glancing over at you before staring back at Rick.

"You have to. It's the smartest play. You know it is. Try to talk to Ezekiel. Or stare him into submission. Whatever it takes." Rick replied following Daryl's eyes as he began to pace left and right.

"You can try talk to him, we need the Kingdom on our side if we have any chance at taking down the Saviours." You said grabbing Daryl's arm to get him to stop pacing and to look at you.

"I ain't leaving ya, something could happen." He replied sternly but you shook your head. You didn't want to be away from Daryl, but Alexandria needed you, you had to go back and he needed to stay, it's the only he would be safe.

"I can take care of myself. You need the Kingdom, please Daryl. If the Saviours find you back at Alexandria or the Hilltop they will take you again. I can't let them take you, I won't!" You stated folding your arms over your chest. "I can't lose you again Daryl! I'd rather you be here for a few days safe, then back at Alexandria while Negan is out looking for you."

"Don't do anythin' stupid while I'm not there to protect ya. Alright?" Daryl asked and you smiled before pulling him in for a hug as he wrapped his arms around your waist.

"I love you too, Dixon." You replied as you lifted your head, kissing him deeply.

"We'll be back soon." Rick reassured, placing his hand on Daryl's shoulder for a few seconds before he nodded at the two of you as you and Rick began following the others out the gate. You could feel Daryl staring at you, so you glance over your shoulder giving him a gentle smile before the gates closed behind you.

-

***An hour later***

You, Rick and Michonne quickly got back into the car as Tara hit the accelerator driving away from the large herd of walkers. You came across a walker trap on your way to Alexandria, it was a large steel cable across the road with explosives strapped to it. Rick ordered you all to collect the explosives after Rosita showed you all how to. You had to admit it was pretty nerve wreaking cutting the explosives off and to make matters worse the herd was coming down the highway towards the group.

Jesus and Sasha went back to Hilltop on foot to tell Maggie that you weren't giving up. While Rosita, Tara and Carl all ran towards the cars to shift them back where they were to block the highway, leaving you, Rick and Michonne to finish getting the explosives.

"That was too close for comfort." You gasped, trying to catch your breath as you sat down in the backseat between Rick and Carl. You, Rick and Michonne had to make a run for it to the car, through the herd of walkers. Michonne was killing the walkers in her path with her katana, Rick using his axe while you used the end of your bow, smacking the walkers in the face with enough force to kill them before the three of you reached the car.

You glanced over at Rick who was looking out the back window when something exploded from behind you and it took you a few seconds before you realised it was the explosive that Rosita left there.

"Yeah, I didn't like the look of that shit at all." Rosita commented and you laughed shaking your head, if she didn't notice something was wrong with it, you all would have been dead.

"I pushed it. I pushed it." Rick muttered, taking deep breaths as he shook his head before Michonne leaned over the back seat grabbing his shoulder.

"We're here. You can smile. We made it. We can make it. We can." Michonne replied kissing him on the cheek and Rick sighed leaning back on the seat as he glanced over you making sure you were okay as you nodded giving him a smile.

Rick told Tara to park the car in the woods a few miles from Alexandria, so the Saviours couldn't find the explosives if they decided to check your vehicles. You knew the Saviours were coming to try find Daryl, you heard Negan over the radio Jesus stole from them. So after making sure the car was hidden from sight you all began walking back to Alexandria.

"Lose the car?" Tobin asked as he opened the gate letting the group back into Alexandria before his eyes landed on, giving you a small nod indicating that things were good between the two of you. He had a small bandage over his nose from when you punched him and a nice bruise over his left cheek, but he clearly realised he stepped over the line the other day.

"It's somewhere safe." Rick replied as he began walking down the street towards Aaron and Eric who were heading towards you guys.

"You didn't find anything?" Tobin asked as Rick turned around.

"No. Listen, we need to get ready. The-" Rick began explaining before the sound of engines filled the air and you all turned around to find the Saviours driving towards you. Shit, a few minutes later and we wouldn't have been back in time.

You all took a few steps back as the vehicles drove through the gate, parking around the corner. Rick nodded to Tara to shut the gate before you walked towards the Saviours getting out their vehicles.

"Rick. Hello. And hello again." Simon greeted walking towards the group of you as you crossed your arms over your chest, staring at him.

"We thought it'd be longer." Rick replied, playing dumb to why the Saviours where back already, you just hoped like hell they believed him.

"Do you think we're here for a tribute? Do you?" Simon replied, placing his hands on his belt as he stared at Rick.

"Is there another reason?" Rick asked glancing over at the Saviours behind Simon before bringing his attention back to Negan's right-hand man.

"There is. We're here for Daryl." Simon answered, taking another step forward so he was directly in front of him.

"Negan took Daryl." You stated bitterly, glaring at Simon who grinned before looking back to Rick.

"But then your son showed up, Daryl went missing. Might those two things be connected?" Simon asked pointing to Carl. He better not touch the kid, you thought to yourself as you gripped the strap of your bow over your shoulder.

"They're not. We didn't know he was gone till right now." Rick responded causing Simon to grin, shaking his head and it was clear he didn't believe him.

"Then this should be easy. Now, everyone find a buddy. Gonne have to show us around. If he's here, we really need you all to see him die." Simon ordered as he began walking away from Rick towards you. "You're his pregnant wife, right?"

"I'm just his wife." You muttered, glaring up at the man who was a lot taller now that he was standing right in front of you.

"Shit. My condolences. Now follow me, you're my buddy." Simon responded grabbing your arm, but you shrugged him off causing him to grin before he walked off and you followed, glancing back over at the rest of the group who were all being dragged to various houses with other Saviours.

You watched in silence as they went house to house. Destroying anything that got in their way, tables, chairs, book shelves, they didn't care. Leaving the insides of houses completely wrecked. The searching lasted nearly an hour before the Saviours deemed that Daryl wasn't here.

"Thank you for your cooperation, Rick. My apologies for leaving the place a bit of a mess, but we got a litany of other shit to attend to. So do you I guess." Simon said patting Rick on the shoulder as you all made your way back to the gate as the Saviours began driving their vehicles out. "Now, since we no longer have Daryl, I have direct orders to bring Y/N back to Negan to take Daryl's place." Simon suddenly said turning to face the group of you before his eyes landed on yours and you froze. Shit.

"What?" Rick questioned, sudden fear hitching in his voice as he glanced back at you with worried eyes.

"I'm taking Daryl's girl back to the Sanctuary. Someone's gotta take his place since he escaped, and Negan would love to have Y/N's company." Simon explained as he reached out grabbing your arm but this time you couldn't shrug him off as his grip tightened.

"We need her. She's our best scavenger, we need her here, so we can get more supplies for Negan." Michonne suddenly shouted, but you knew there was no point trying to argue. Negan gave Simon an order, there was no way he was gonna let his boss down.

"No! Don't. We didn't know anything about Daryl escaping." Rick quickly argued grabbing your other arm to stop Simon from pulling you away, but that only made the other man angry as he pulled out his gun aiming it at Rick

"Don't make me kill one of you, I'm sure you have all lost enough people." Simon said, gun still aimed at Rick whose eyes were flying from you to the gun and then back to you as you gave him a sad smile.

"It's okay, Rick. We'll work this out." You reassured as Rick released your arm hesitantly and you quickly handed him your bow before Simon pushed you into the truck as he climbed in next to you.

"Oh! And, Rick if Daryl does turn up here two days from now, two months from now hell, two years from now, just know there's no statute of limitations on this. Keep that hatchet handy. You're gonna need it if he turns up with you people. And it won't turn out how it did for your boy." Simon shouted before he began driving off, out the gate.

You watched through the revision mirror as the group stared at the truck driving off before someone closed the gate to Alexandria blocking your view from your people. You had a bad feeling that it was last time you'd see your family again. Whatever Negan had planned for you, it wouldn't be good. You just hoped like hell that Daryl stayed safe and hidden from the Saviours.

-

"We're here. Now a little word of advice lady, play nice otherwise Negan will make your life hell." Simon suddenly said after hours of driving in silence. You didn't respond, watching as the vehicles in front of you slowed down as they approached a gate. To the right you could see walkers chained the fence and various posts, while a few men in dirty white jumpers and pants were running around them trying to chain more to the fence. Who the hell does that?

You stayed silent observing the scene around you, if you were going to try escape this place you needed to know as much as possible.

Simon pulled the truck up next to the other vehicles after driving through the gate. You could see the Saviours starting to exit their vehicles before they all suddenly stopped and knelt down to the ground with their head down. What are they doing? You thought to yourself when a familiar whistle filled the air and you instantly knew it was Negan.

"Get out." Simon ordered grabbing your arm and pulling you out the truck as he pushed you to the ground trying to get you to kneel, but you pushed him off as you stood up straight. Like hell you were going to kneel for Negan, he and his men killed Glen, Abraham, Olivia, Spencer, Denise, your unborn baby! You were never going to kneel for this asshole.

"Well. Well. Well." Negan's voice called as he walked out from behind one of the trucks, his bat slung over his shoulder as his eyes landed on you. "As you were." Negan shouted glancing around at his men as they all suddenly stood back up, going back to whatever they were doing before like nothing ever happened.

"Daryl wasn't hiding at Alexandria, but it will only be a matter of time before he finds out we have his girl and he will come running back." Simon suddenly said from besides you as Negan walked over in your direction.

"Yes, he will." Negan replied with a grin as he stood in front of you, his eyes roaming over your body before his eyes locked with yours. "Now, you have two options here Y/N. Option one. You tell me where Daryl is hiding and tell me what your buddies at Alexandria are planning, because knowing Rick the prick he would be trying to plan something stupid! If you tell me what I need to know I will guarantee your safety and you could live in luxury here at the Sanctuary like my wives. Or option two. You don't tell me what I need to know, and I will make your life here a living hell. So, what will it be doll face?"

"Fuck you." You spat, glaring at the man in front of you as he shook his head with a sigh.

"Wrong answer sweetheart." Negan stated giving Simon a nod and before you even realised what was happening something hard hit you in the back of the head and everything faded to black.

-

When you finally started to wake up, you realised you were lying on your back, the cement floor sending a cold shiver through your body. Where the hell am I? Everything around you was black minus the thin line of light shining through the bottom of what you assumed was a door. Negan had thrown you into a cell. You should have seen that coming, it's what he did to Daryl.

You slowly sat up, finding the corner of the small cell as you leant against the wall, the cold cement hitting your bare back and that's when you realised your shirt was gone. What the hell?! You quickly felt over the rest of your body in panic, realising you were only wearing a bra and undies.

"Fucking assholes." You muttered, pulling your knees up to your chest as you wrapped your arms around your legs trying to keep yourself warm as you stared at the light through the bottom of the door. There was no way you were gonna stay here, you just had to wait for the right moment and you would break out of here and get back to Daryl and help the group fight against the Saviours.

A few hours had gone by... or maybe it was a few days? You honestly had no sense of time in this cell, but finally someone opened the large steel door.

You wrapped your arms around your knees, trying to cover your body the best you could as the door suddenly opened. You had to close your eyes for a few seconds at the sudden brightness before your eyes eventually adjusted to the light and you found Negan leaning against the door frame, his arms folded over his chest and you realised he wasn't holding Lucille, that's a good sign.

"Bored shitless yet darling?" Negan questioned raising his eyebrow as he stared down you in the corner of the room.

"This is the most relaxed I've felt in years." You replied sarcastically glaring at the man in front of you as he grinned shaking his head.

"So, I don't suppose you'll tell me where Daryl took off to? Or what Rick is planning?" Negan asked and you shook your head, not breaking eye contact with him.

"You'll have better luck at trying to get a walker to talk." You answered bitterly and Negan chuckled, rubbing the stubble starting to grow along his jaw.

"I don't want to hurt you Y/N. I hate hurting women, but if you don't tell me what I want to know, I won't have a choice." He said with a sigh looking down at the ground for a few seconds before looking back over at you. "Stand up." He ordered but you didn't move a muscle, he wasn't the boss of you.

"Stand the fuck up." He suddenly shouted taking a step into the cell as he grabbed your arm, yanking you to your feet. Suddenly you were standing right in front of him, your body exposed and even though you had your bra and undies on, in that moment you felt completely naked.

You kept your eyes down, avoiding Negan's gaze. You knew his eyes were wondering your body, taking in your curves and the scars that lined your chest and stomach. His hand suddenly brushed against your bare shoulder as he took a step closer.

"You would fit in perfectly with my other wives, darling. Hell, you would be my favourite of the lot." He whispered, his hand slowly moving down your left arm. You felt panic starting to rise in your body, images of your abusive ex filling your mind and before you knew what you were doing you swung at Negan landing a solid punch to his jaw.

He quickly let you go, holding his jaw as you gasped taking a step back, shocked with your actions. You shouldn't have done that. If he didn't kill you, he sure as hell won't play friendly with you anymore.

"Damn! You have more balls than most my men." Negan shouted, sounding both angry yet amused as he suddenly pushed you into the wall behind you. Pinning you to the cold cement with his forearm over your chest. You stared at his threatening hazel eyes as you tried to calm your breathing, not wanting the man to realise you were scared, but it was probably too late for that.

"You do not want to piss me off." Negan said sternly, his face inches away from yours before he took a step back. "My offer still stands, you can become one of my wives and I will look after you."

"I'm married." You stated, folding your arms over your chest, trying to cover yourself up as Negan chuckled.

"Just think about it." He replied as he began walking out the cell before stopping. "I will have one of my men bring you some clothes and food." He said before closing the steel door behind him.

You sat back down on the floor, staring at the light through the bottom of the door when suddenly music began blasting through the cell.

_We're on easy street_   
_And it feels so sweet_   
_'Cause the world is 'bout a treat_   
_When you're on easy street_

You tried to block your ears from the loud music, but there wasn't any point, you could still hear it. Fuck. So, this must be that annoying happy song they played on repeat while Daryl was here, God how'd he not gone insane with this?

 


	8. Chapter 8

 

The next few weeks went by with the same routine. The music would stop for bit, allowing you to get some sleep but would start back up only a few hours later, waking you in an instant. You were given a pair of black tracksuit pants and a tank top that was too small for your body, but you were glad you had some form of clothing covering your skin. A Saviour named James was the one assigned to look after you. He gave off a real creepy vibe just by the way he would stare and talk down to you. You had a bad feeling that he was the one who picked out your clothes, giving you the small tank top on purpose, so it hugged your curves tightly giving him something to look at. You had barely said more than a few words to him, choosing to stay quiet whenever he'd pull you from the cell to mop the floors or clean something for Negan. At first you refused to clean anything, but James punished you if didn't follow his orders and there was only so many beatings and days without food you could handle before you gave in and started cleaning whatever he told you to.

You hadn't seen much of Negan, but you figured he was busy trying to work out what Rick and the others were up to since he couldn't get any information out of you. But, the times you did see Negan walk past, Eugene was right there besides him, like they were best friends. You knew Eugene was weak, but you didn't think he would give in to Negan and become one of the Saviours. Negan would have no doubt gave him an offer like he did with you and you hated your former friend for saying yes to the man who had killed so many people you loved.

Whenever they'd walk past you made a point to glare at Eugene, but he refused to even look in your direction and you knew he was ashamed of his decision, but that didn't make it any better.

-

Daryl had been pacing backwards and forwards by the front gates of Hilltop for the past hour. The Saviours had came a few hours after he arrived at Hilltop after leaving the Kingdom. Resulting in him and Maggie hiding out in some cellar waiting for them to leave. When he arrived, Jesus had told him about Rick and the group finding some explosives and a herd of walkers before Rick told him and Sasha to get back to Hilltop on foot to inform Maggie that they were not giving up. Daryl asked if Y/N was okay, if the group managed to get the explosives before the herd reached them but all Jesus could say was that he was sure they were all okay, that the herd was a fair distance away and that they had plenty of time. But, Daryl could feel something was wrong, he just had a gut feeling that something wasn't right, and he hoped like hell it didn't have anything to do with the herd Jesus told him about.

"I said Rick and the others will be here any day now. But that doesn't mean he will be here this morning. Stop pacing and come have breakfast with the others." Jesus' voice suddenly shouted as Daryl looked over his shoulder to find the other man walking out from behind the trailers towards him.

"Nah, I'm good." Daryl replied, shaking his head. All he wanted was to go to Alexandria and make sure Y/N and the others were okay, but he knew he couldn't go back to Alexandria, not while the Saviours were still looking for him. He couldn't go back to that damn cell, not again.

"Daryl! Jesus! They're here." Maggie suddenly shouted from the guard platform, glancing over at them before looking back out past the fence at where the others probably where. About damn time. "Kal, open the gate." Maggie ordered as she climbed down the stairs as the familiar RV drove through followed by a small van.

The vehicles came to a stop just inside the gates as Daryl and Jesus made their way over to them. Rick climbed out the RV first and he didn't even seem surprised to see Daryl here, he knew Daryl wouldn't be able to stay at the Kingdom for too long. But as Rick began walking towards him his face fell and Daryl instantly knew something bad happened. His eyes quickly glanced over at the rest of the group. Michonne, Carl, Tara, Aaron, Eric, Gabriel and few other members of Alexandria, but no Y/N. You weren't with them... why weren't you with them?

"Daryl-" Rick began to say, his voice gentle as he tried to mask his expression, but Daryl could read him like an open book and he knew Rick was sad and angry about something even if he tried to hide it.

"Where is she? Where's Y/N? She alright?" Daryl suddenly questioned, not letting Rick finish whatever he was going to say, and he watched as Rick continued to walk towards him before stopping a few feet away with a sigh.

"They took her. The Saviours came to Alexandria and they just took her." Rick explained with a sympathetic expression as Daryl stared at him in shock. No, this couldn't be happing. They couldn't have taken her, Negan couldn't have taken her. Not Y/N.

"How? When?" Daryl asked, his voice rough as he tried to keep his anger under control

"A few days ago. Negan's men just showed up looking for you and took her." Michonne replied from behind Rick. Daryl shook his head as he began to pace left and right, trying anything to control the anger building up inside him.

"Why'd ya let 'em take her?! Ya know what she just went through with losing the baby and now she's probably being tortured in some cell at the Sanctuary as we speak!" Daryl shouted throwing his hands in the air in frustration before he looked back over to his brother who was staring at the ground. "It's Y/N, Rick! How many times has she saved ya life? We would all be dead six ways to Sunday by now if it wasn't for her. She's my girl and now Negan has her!"

"I know! Daryl, I know. I love her like a sister and you know I would never do anything to hurt her. The Saviours gave us no choice, if she didn't go with them then one of us wouldn't be alive right now." Rick replied motioning to the rest of the group behind him, before looking back at Daryl.

"We have to go get her. We have to do something." Daryl replied. He knew what the Saviours where capable of. He knew what kind of torture and work they put prisoners through. But Y/N was strong, she's stronger than him when it came to that sort of stuff. Like the time back at Terminus when their people took Rick, Glen, Bob, himself and Y/N into a separate room where they were placed in front of a large trough like sink. Their hands bound behind their backs and mouths gaged while the Terminus people began bleeding people out by slicing their throats. He remembered that day like it happened yesterday. He was terrified. His body shaking and eyes wide with fear watching as the people near him were bleeding out. But, he remembered looking over at Y/N who was kneeling next to him and she seemed almost calm. Her eyes were scanning the large room, looking for exits and ways out while she used a small piece of glass -which till this day he still doesn't know how she found it- to cut through the duct tape around her wrists and within seconds she was reaching for a gun, taking down the Terminus people. She had been so calm and collected during that terrifying ordeal while he was the one panicking, unable to find a way out the situation. Although, looking back he shouldn't be all that surprised. Y/N wasn't like most women, she was always out getting her hands dirty and putting her life on the line to keep the group safe, while most the other women focused on laundry and cooking. He loved that about her and knew that if it wasn't for her, they wouldn't be standing her today, especially him and Rick.

"We have a plan. We have more numbers, we found a new community, it's a long story. But, we want you to come with us to help convive another community Tara came across on her two-week run, to join us too. If they join, we will have the numbers and we will beat the Saviours." Rick said and after a few more minutes of discussion it was decided to head to Oceanside and try get them to join the fight.

-

By nightfall they were back at Alexandria. Oceanside wouldn't fight the Saviours, but Rick managed to take most their guns which will be halved between Alexandria and the other community Gabriel found.

"Hey, are you okay?" Enid questioned to Rosita who closed the gate as Daryl climbed off his motorcycle while the others all got out the vehicles once inside Alexandria.

"Where's Sasha?" Jesus added as the group walked over to Rosita who was on guard duty, but by the expression on her face Daryl could tell something had happened to Sasha. Did the Saviours kill her or did they capture her like Y/N?

"There's someone here." Rosita stated, ignoring the questions as she began to lead everyone down to the cell that Morgan had built a while ago. Everyone exchanged confused looks, trying to think of who it could be as she opened the cell door and everyone stood by the door speechless. Who was it? Daryl thought to himself as he took a few steps to the side so he could get a look inside the cell as Dwight stood up, looking at them.

Sudden anger took over his body as he saw the man who killed and helped killed so many of his people, hell he was probably the one in charge of Y/N and torturing her like how he was when Daryl was at the Sanctuary. The thought of Dwight laying a finger on you made him want to kill the other man and within a split second he charged towards the cell door, ready to do just that. But, before he could make it even an inch into the cell, Rick was right there in front of him.

"Whoa, whoa." Rick said, grabbing Daryl's shoulders, pushing him away from Dwight, but Daryl wouldn't let up. He was furious, Dwight killed Denise, he helped the Saviours kill Abraham and Glen and now they had Y/N in that goddamn cell! "Whoa, whoa, whoa. Slow down. Come on." Rick said, his hands against Daryl's shoulders and chest trying to calm him down.

"He wants to help us." Rosita stated as Rick continued to stare at Daryl, making sure he wasn't going to lash out again before he turned around to Dwight, his hand still over Daryl's chest as he stared at the enemy.

"That true? You want to help?" Rick asked.

"I do." Dwight replied confidently and Rick nodded, taking his hand away from Daryl as he took a step closer to Dwight, pulling his revolver out and aiming it at his head.

"Get on your knees." Rick ordered and Dwight obeyed and got down on his knees, staring over at Daryl, who was watching his every move, anger still surging through his body. "Look at me. Why?"

"'Cause I want it stopped. I want Negan dead." Dwight answered, looking up at Rick, the gun still raising at his head.

"So why don't you kill him?" Rick asked.

"It can't just be me. They're all Negan." Dwight replied and before Rick could ask another question Tara took a step forward.

"That girl you murdered she had a name. Her name was Denise, and she was a doctor. And she helped people." Tara said, her voice shaky as she stared at the man who killed her girlfriend.

"I wasn't aiming for her." Dwight simply replied as Daryl grunted pulling his knife out, grabbing Dwight by the collar of his shirt and slamming him against the cell wall, holding the knife inches away from his face.

"Do it. Do it." Tara said from somewhere behind him, but he didn't hear her. He was too focused on the man in front of him as he tried to think of what you would do in this situation.

"You wanna end it this way you go ahead. I'm sorry. I am. I know you want to." Dwight said staring at Daryl as he gripped the knife tighter.

"He could just be here to see if you were here." Rick commented.

"We can't trust him." Michonne added.

"He owned me. But not anymore. What I did, I was doing it for someone else. She just got away. So now I'm here. So are you because of her." Dwight replied, keeping his eyes on Daryl ignoring the others in the cell as the knife wavered close to his eye.

"Where's Y/N?" Daryl questioned, breathing heavily as he pushed Dwight harder into the wall.

"Negan made her an offer to become one of his wives, but your girl refused. Straight up punched him in the face. He has her in your old cell, got her doing work on the walker fence and cleaning the halls, similar to you. When I left she was alive, that's all I know." Dwight explained.

"Was she hurt?" Daryl questioned, pushing the knife against the other man's cheek, just hard enough not to pierce the skin. If Y/N punched Negan, she would have been punished and he wasn't sure if he actually wanted to know the answer to his question or not.

"I don't know. I barely saw her, Negan had some other guy in charge of her."

"He could be lying! Daryl, do it." Tara shouted from behind him as he glared at Dwight trying to figure out what was true and what was horseshit.

"You knew me then, and you know me now. You know I'm not lying. Negan trusts me. We work together, we can stop him together." Dwight argued and after a few seconds Daryl dropped the knife, but kept him pushed against the wall as Rick stood next to him.

"They have Sasha as well, if she's even alive." Rosita suddenly said.

"Negan's coming soon. Tomorrow. Three trucks probably. 20 Saviours and him. I can slow them down, bring some trees down in the road, buy a little time for you guys to get ready. If you can take them out, that's where we start. You kill them, I'll radio back to the Sanctuary." Dwight explained looking between Rick and Daryl.

"The Sanctuary?" Rick questioned, obviously never heard the name of the place before.

"Where Negan lives. That's what they call it. I can radio back to them and say everything's okay. You drive the trucks back, and I can lead you right inside, and with the right plan, we can wipe the rest out. Get Y/N from the cell and check to see if your other friend is alive. Then, we get the workers on our side, build our numbers up and go from outpost to outpost and end this."

"Keep talking." Rick responded, glancing over at Daryl who nodded before looking back at Dwight waiting for him to continue. If they were going to do this, they needed a proper plan otherwise it would never work and Y/N would still be stuck at the Sanctuary.

-

"Hey! Did I tell you to stop?!" James shouted causing you to jump before you quickly began sweeping the floor, not wanting to make him angry. You had been sweeping the hallways for hours while James sat on a chair watching you the entire time, a near empty bottle of Jack Daniels in his hand. His cloudy blood shot eyes watched your every move making you feel uneasy. He always gave off a creepy vibe, but this was different and something inside you told you to get the hell out of this place.

You knew the door down the right of the hallway lead outside where the Saviours had some motorcycles parked. Once you got the chance that's where you were gonna go. You weren't sure where to go once you got on a bike, there was a gate near the walker fence, so you could probably get through if you couldn't find anywhere else.

You quickly stopped sweeping and stood to the side as a large group of Saviours made their way down the hallway.

"Negan wants everyone at the furnace. Dr Carson was the reason Sherry was able to escape. Negan is gonna teach him a lesson, he wants everyone there." One of the Saviours said staring at James as they walked past.

"Roger that. I'll bring Y/N there once she finishes sweeping." James replied giving the other Saviours a grin before they walked off.

A few minutes passed before James walked up behind you, grabbing your bicep tightly as he pushed you towards the stairwell. You stated walking down the stairs before James pulled you the other way as you began walking up the stairs. This isn't the way the other Saviours went, the furnace would be downstairs, why is he taking me upstairs?

"Where are we going?" You questioned looking over at him as he hushed you, before opening a door to your left and pushing you in. A small dimly lit lightbulb hung from the roof of the small room. It looked like a larger cell room, cement walls and floor, a single couch in the corner of the room a long with a sink and mirror on the far side wall.

"What are-" You began to question before James shut the door behind himself and the hairs on your neck stood up as you heard him lock the steel door. You could feel your heart racing in your chest as you quickly looked around the room trying to find another exit, but there wasn't any, he had just locked the only door to the room.

"I've been waiting for Negan leave the Sanctuary, to visit your little community or something. But, I can't wait any longer and Negan seems to busy right now." James suddenly said as he turned to face you and your face turned pale as you realised what was about to happen.

You quickly took a few steps backwards, but you knew it was pointless. He out weighed you by a lot and was definitely stronger than you, but you were not about to just let it happen without putting up a fight.

"You don't want to do this." You began to say, but he completely ignored what you said as he walked over to you, grabbing the collar of your tank top and pulling you towards the couch on the other side of the room.

You tried to pull away, but you body weak from exhaustion and hunger wouldn't cooperate as the man continued to pull you towards the couch, the front of your tank top ripping, exposing part of your bra. Without hesitation your hand formed a first by your side as you landed a solid punch the side of his jaw.

The force of the punched caused him to let you go as he tried to keep his balance, nearly falling over. But within seconds he recomposed him, turning around to face you in fury as he marched over to you, pushing you to the ground with a thud.

The back of your head slammed hard against the cement floor and for a moment black dots clouded your vision as James' blurry face appeared in front of you and before you knew what was happening his lips hit yours forcefully.

"I love it when they fight back. Only turns me on more." James smirked, showing his crooked teeth as he pushed his lips against yours biting down hard.

You tried to push him off, but he was already on top of you, his rough hands yanking your face closer to his as he began sliding his whisky coated tongue into your mouth.

You wanted to shout, scream, cry, beg for someone to help you, but you couldn't. You tried turning your head away, tried digging your nails into the skin on his arms in an attempt to get him to stop, but that only anger him further. You could feel him hard against your body as he began moving his hands down to the hem of your pants.

You didn't know what to do. Sure, you had been in this situation in the past back before the world went to shit, but you had been drugged and had no memory of it happening. However, this... this you knew would stay in your memory forever, etched into your brain as a constant reminder.

Your whole body shook uncontrollably in panic and fear, but your refused to give James the satisfaction of hearing you scream or beg for him to stop. Instead you used all the strength you had left to bring your knee up to his groin, knowing you hit your mark when he let out a painful groan. But before you could do anything further his rough fingers grabbed your hair as he slammed your head back against the cement floor, over and over again until you were barely conscious.

You couldn't move, couldn't speak. You head erupting in pain, but it was like you were frozen to the spot as you fought to stay conscious. Your eyes flying around the room trying to focus on something, to focus on anything, but everything was spinning as you laid on your back.

Your heart rate accelerated when you heard the sound of a belt being undone and suddenly you heard clothes being thrown to the floor before James' now naked frame walked into your line of sight as he bent down next to you, his hands working on pulling your pants and undies off and there was nothing you could do.

Eventually you stopped fighting, your body going numb as you closed your eyes pretending it was Daryl. Pretending that you were back in your house at Alexandria laying on your queen-sized bed with the morning sun shining through the curtains. But, it didn't work. You knew it wasn't Daryl, he would never do this, he would never hurt you. And that's when you felt the first tear slip from your eyes as you tried not to focus on James.

It felt like hours before the pressure of his weight finally shifted off you and you weren't sure if you had passed out for a little bit or not.

"If you tell Negan or anyone about what just happened then I will do the same thing to your little friend, Sasha. That's right, Sasha is here too, in a cell just like yours. Now, keep your damn mouth shut and nothing will happen to Sasha. Understand?" James questioned, his face inches away from yours and you nodded, ever so slightly. Barely processing what he just said, your mind too busy reliving what just happened, you didn't even see his raised fist until it connected with your temple as everything went black.

 


	9. Chapter 9

 

"Sleeping Beauty woken up yet?" Negan asked walking into the infirmary looking over at your unconscious body lying on the bed as the nurse shook her head.

"What James told us about that other man taking her into a room and using her seems to be true. She has some of the physical affects on her body, like the bruises over her arms and neck, but they are just the ones you can see, there's more under her clothing." The nurse explained looking over at Negan before back down at you. "Her head has been hit pretty hard, not just the clear bruises on her temple, but the back of her head looks to have been slammed against something solid. She definitely has a concession, but I can't be sure if she has other head injuries until she wakes up."

Negan nodded, swinging Lucille over his shoulder. "Alright, I gotta go get Sasha and my men ready for our trip to Alexandria, but before I do that Lucille, here is gonna meet the little prick who did this to Y/N." Negan stated before walking out the room. She was a prisoner here and refused his offer to be his wife. He may dislike you, but he respected you. He was used to women doing whatever he said, but you didn't. You were different and he may hate you for saying no to his offer and for punching him, but he respected you and under no circumstances did he tolerate rape or anything like that where consent was not given, even if he hated the victim.

-

Daryl stood besides one of the cars inside Alexandria, listening as Eugene talked through a microphone at Rick who was standing up on the guard post. The garbage people all ducked behind the fence, keeping out of sight from the Saviours who were all parked in front of the gate.

"Where's Negan?" Rick questioned as Daryl stared at Eugene through the metal bars of Alexandria's gate. How could he betray the group like that?

"I'm Negan." Eugene answered and Daryl shook his head, looking over at Rick as he stared at their former friend before glancing down at Rosita giving her the signal to detonate the explosives they had planted but nothing happened.

Something wasn't right, they had wired the explosives themselves, someone must have altered them. But who? The only people who knew about the explosives where our own people and... Shit the garbage people.

Before Daryl could say anything to the others the garbage people all cocked their guns aiming at everyone's head as he held his AK-47 aiming at the nearest enemies around him. Nobody moved, guns raised at each other while one of the garbage people opened the front gate of Alexandria as Negan climbed out his truck followed by Dwight.

"You ever hear the one about the stupid little prick named Rick who thought he knew shit, but didn't know shit and got everyone that he gave a shit about killed?" Negan asked, Lucille slung over his shoulder as he pointed at Rick with a grin. "It's about you. You're all gonna wanna put your guns down now."

"No one drops anything. We had a deal." Rick responded glancing over at Jadis who shrugged.

"Tamiel came for the boat things. Followed ones who took. Made a better deal." Jadis replied, her gun still aimed at Rick.

"You push me and you push me. And you push me, Rick. You just tried to blow us up, right? I mean, I get me, my people. But Eugene? He's one of yours. And after what he did. He stepped up. You people are animals. Universe gives you a sign and you just shove your finger right up it's ass. Dwight, Simon, chop-chop." Negan ordered as he climbed onto the trailer of the truck while his men began undoing straps and blankets covering a large coffin as they wheeled it over to Negan, standing it up besides him.

"So, you don't like Eugene anymore. You guys gotta like Sasha. I do, too. Got her right here packaged for your convenience, alive and well. Now, I bought her so I wouldn't have to kill all of you, and not killing all of you could get complicated. See, I know there's a lot of firepower left in there, Rick. So I'm gonna make this simple. I want all the guns you've managed to scrape up. Yep, I know about those too. I want every last grain of lemonade you got left. I want a person of your own choosing for Lucille." Negan instructed before his eyes landed on Daryl who was already staring at him. "Daryl. Oh I gotta get me my Daryl back. I see you. And the pool table and all the pool cues and chalk. And I want it now or Sasha dies, and then all of you. Probably. C'mon Rick. Just because I bought her in a casket doesn't mean she has to leave in it."

"Where's Y/N?" Rick suddenly questioned, glancing down at Daryl before looking back at Negan who smirked.

"I was gonna let her tag along, let her watch as I kill one of you. But she's busy recovering back at the Sanctuary." Negan answered, and Daryl could feel his anger rising as he tried to figure out what Negan did to you.

"Recovering? From what?" Rick asked, worry evident in his voice.

"Daryl's girl is one tough son of a bitch! If she didn't hate me so I might actually like her." Negan said swinging Lucille by his feet, his eyes glancing between Rick and Daryl. "Look I don't tolerate rape, but she sorta had it coming."

"Daryl, don't!" Rick shouted watching as his brother raised his gun again, aiming at Negan, but the garbage people around him all turned their weapons to him. He could see Daryl shaking with anger, his finger resting on the trigger of his rifle and Rick knew if he fired one shot then it was all over.

"Damn! Did that get a reaction out of Daryl or what?" Negan shouted with a grin, pointing Lucille towards Daryl. "You should be thanking me. I killed the bastard that touched her."

Nobody said anything for a few seconds, staring at Negan who had a smug look on his face. Rick was watching Daryl, begging him with his eyes not to pull the trigger and slowly Daryl lowered his rifle.

"Let me see Sasha." Rick suddenly said, turning his attention back to Negan.

"Sash. You're not gonna believe this crap." Negan said, tapping the coffin with his bat as he opened it slightly when suddenly Sasha pushed the door open grabbing Negan, except it wasn't Sasha, not anymore, she was a walker.

"Holy goddamn!" Negan shouted as the two of them fell off the trailer as sudden gunfire broke out between Alexandria, the garbage people and the Saviours.

In the end the Sanctuary and the garbage people retreated after the Hilltop and Kingdom showed up. Rick, Ezekiel and Maggie leading the three communities, and everyone began planning an attack on the Sanctuary. They were going to defeat the Saviours, take down the Sanctuary and all the outposts and get Y/N back. That is what they were gonna do and Daryl was going to do everything in his power to get her back.

-

It's been nearly two weeks since the first time it happened. Two weeks since James took you into that room and did what he did to you. Two weeks since you woke up in the infirmary to the news that your attacker had been killed by Negan, however, your relief was short lived when not even five minutes later Negan had walked into the infirmary with James right besides him.

James had made up some bullshit lie, and Negan believed him. You didn't try tell Negan the truth, knowing it would be a waste of energy, he wouldn't believe you over his own man. So you kept quiet and James continued to be the man in charge of you, which meant when you weren't locked in that damn cell you were with him. And for the first week you thought he wouldn't do it again, that he's had his fun, but then it happened again. And again. And you found yourself completely at his mercy. Your wrists, face and stomach seemed to be constantly bruised from you struggling against him.

As the days turned into weeks, your thoughts and hopes about escaping the Sanctuary seemed to vanish, but once you found out that Alexandria, the Hilltop and the Kingdom were all working together you forced yourself not to let go of the hope completely.

The next day the Sanctuary was attacked and walkers were unleashed around the building, trapping everyone inside and you instantly knew who was behind the attack. A few days after that you were downstairs sweeping the floor when a truck crashed into the side of the building and the walkers from outside began filing through the broken wall into the building. Luckily you were on the other side of the room when it happened, giving you an extra few minutes to prepare.

All the Saviours including James forgot about you and the workers as they all fought for their lives against the walkers. You managed to find a knife on a table and used it to take down any walker in your path as you made your way towards the stairs. Just as you were climbing the stairs you heard James shout out to you for help and you glanced over your shoulder to find him cornered by a group of walkers, looking at you desperately for help. You slowly shook your head, sticking up your middle finger as you watched the walkers tear him apart before you turned away, trying to find a way to escape when you came face to face with Negan and you knew your chances of escaping just disintegrated, but in that moment, you didn't care. James was dead. He couldn't hurt you or anyone else ever again.

After the Saviours managed to kill all the walkers in the Sanctuary, you knew Negan and his men were planning something big. Dwight had kept you updated on the whole thing, he told you that he was on your side in this war, that he was feeding information to Rick and the other communities without Negan knowing. Although, you didn't trust Dwight in the slightest after what he did to Daryl, you knew he was telling you the truth. You found out that Maggie, the Widow as they referred to her as, was in charge of Hilltop. You were happy for her and glad that the Hilltop had someone other than Gregory leading them, you also found out that Carol was alive and with the Kingdom. However, all that happy news vanished the day Dwight told you about how the Saviours bombed Alexandria and that Carl died. He told you that Rick and Michonne stayed with Carl while the others took the little girl and went to Hilltop. He also told you that he was worried Negan might be close to finding out about his betrayal, but you couldn't careless about that. All you could think of was Carl. So many questions flooded your mind. Was he really dead? How did he die? Did he go down fighting?

-

You were outside working on the walker fence with a few other prisoners or workers, you had no idea who they were but figured they must have pissed Negan off if they were doing the same thing you were doing. Although they were all wearing the same dirty white jumpers and pants with an orange letter spray painted on the front, while you were wearing a tight tank top and jeans. You didn't talk to them, you just focused on not getting bit as you ducked and weaved between the tied up walkers, trying to chain the latest one to the fence

"Y/N! Come here." Negan's voice suddenly shouted snapping you out of your thoughts as you looked over towards the building to find him leaning against the railing of the stairs. You stared at him for a few seconds, trying to figure out what you had done wrong before you began to make your way over to him.

"Your old pal Rick wants to talk to me. Figured you might come in handy if I need to keep him in line." Negan stated pulling out a walkie-talkie as you walked up the steps towards him. You swallowed the lump in your throat as your heart accelerated. Rick just lost Carl. This conversation is not going to end well.

"Ricky. Look at you, callin' me up. You wanna tell me where you are so we can do this face-to-face?" Negan questioned holding the walkie to his mouth as he stared at you, with a grin.

"Carl's dead." Ricks voice said, and you couldn't help the tears that began filling your eyes after hearing Rick confirm what Dwight told you only a few hours earlier. You glanced over at Negan who's face dropped as he took in the information, if you weren't mistaken he almost seemed sad that Carl was gone. "He wrote letters. He wrote one to you. He asked you to stop. He asked me to stop. He asked us for peace, But its too late for that. Even if we wanted a deal now, it doesn't matter. I'm gonna kill you."

"How did it happen?" Negan asked, looking over at you again as you tried to wipe the tears from your eyes. You didn't want him to think you were weak, but you couldn't help it. Carl was like a brother to you and now he was gone.

"What?" Ricks questioned.

"How did he die? Was it us? Was it the grenades? The fire?" Negan began asking before Rick cut him off.

"It wasn't you. Carl went out to help someone. And he got bit." Rick replied and you could hear the pain and anger through his tone. And you could only imagine how he was feeling right now, to have your own child die. You just lost your unborn baby a few weeks ago and although you only knew of his or hers existence for a couple of days, it still hurt like hell when you lost it and you were going to make sure Negan and the Saviours paid for all the pain and suffering they had put not just you through but all the people you care about. You might not be able to do much right now, but once you're able to escape the Sanctuary, there was gonna be hell to pay.

"God damn it. Shit. I, um I am sorry." Negan said into the walkie as you watched him trying to compose himself. Was this just an act or was he truly sadden by Carls death? "You know, I wanted him to be part of things. I had plans. That kid. That kid was the future."

"The only future is one where you're dead." Rick snapped, and Negan sighed.

"What the hell are you doing Rick? Why are you fighting? Why are you making this so hard? Carl is dead because of you. Because you couldn't leave shit well enough alone. I mean, hell, maybe he woulda died some other way. Any one of us can get our ticket punched any second. But in this case, in this case he is dead because of you. Because you weren't there to stop him from doing something stupid. You set this course, Rick. Who's next? Maybe Y/N? I have her right here next to me. She's a little banged up and bruised, but she's alive." Negan taunted through the walkie, his eyes glued to you as you stood on the steps watching him.

"Don't you touch her! You're next!" Rick's voice shouted causing Negan to grin, getting the reaction he wanted out of Rick.

"No. But someone is. You see, I stop people from dying. I am the answer. Now, it may have taken a hard lesson for you to hear it, but you should hear it now. It's time. Do not let any more of your shit decisions cost you to lose anyone else you love. That garbage that sticks with you. Forever. Just like Carl will. Hell, I'm feeling it. And I'm gonna be feeling it for a while. You could have just let me save all of you. I mean, that's why I killed your friends in the first place. So, you can sit there and you can say that you're gonna kill me, but you won't. You failed. You failed as a leader, and most of all, Rick, you failed as a father." Negan stated sternly as he let out a soft sigh before continuing.

"Just give up. Give up, because you have already lost." Negan said as he turned the walkie-talkie off, not giving Rick a chance to reply.

Negan stared at you for a few seconds before he glanced over your shoulder at someone nodding at them to come over.

"Can you take Y/N back to her cell. I gotta get everyone ready." Negan said as Dwight climbed up the stairs until he was standing next to you.

"For what?" Dwight asked, glancing over at you before back to his boss.

"I have big plans for the Hilltop tomorrow." Negan grinned before walking off leaving you and Dwight standing on the steps before he pushed you back inside.

Neither of you spoke as you walked down the hallway towards your cell. He pushed you a bit harder whenever you'd walk past another Saviour, but you barely noticed. All you could think about was Negan's plan for the Hilltop. Was he going to bomb them like Alexandria? Everyone was now at the Hilltop after fleeing Alexandria, although you're not sure if Negan knew that or not.

"Get in." Dwight muttered as he opened the cell door and you walked in, knowing there was no point in arguing. "You wait until tomorrow. Wait until Negan and his chosen army have left for the Hilltop and then you go. You know where the motorcycles are parked, right? Do you know how to ride?" Dwight asked catching you off guard as you nodded, trying to read his face to workout if he was being serious.

"This key is for the bike closest to the door. Take it and get the hell out of here." Dwight ordered as you stared at him in shock.

"Why are you helping me?" You asked leaning against the wall of your cell, staring at the other man.

"I owe Daryl. Helping his wife seems like a good place to start." Dwight simply answered before he closed the door to your cell, walking away without locking it. You were tempted to just open the door right now and escape, but you knew it was too risky. You had to wait for tomorrow and then you were getting out of here.

-

Rick and Michonne arrived back at the Hilltop the following day. Daryl watched from a distance while Rick and Michonne were greeted by the others as a woman handed Judith back to her father. He gave Rick a small nod once he caught his eye but didn't say anything to him. He knew Rick wanted space after what just happened, hell, everyone wanted some space after Carl's death. But as the morning sun began to rise in the sky he realised he hadn't seen Rick around the place for a while and he knew he should check on him. Although, he wasn't good with words, he never knew what to say when someone was upset, but Y/N always knew what to say to make the person feel better or smile, she was good like that and his heart ached at the thought of her.

Daryl checked the mansion first, figuring Rick would be in one of the spare rooms with Michonne but when he knocked only Michonne appeared and told him that Rick was by Glen and Abrahams graves.

After a few minutes he walked around to the back of Hilltop, spotting Rick kneeling down in front of the graves. He stopped for a few seconds, unsure whether or not to talk to him but he could hear Y/N's voice in the back of his head telling him to talk to Rick.

He walked towards the other man, making his foot steps heavier so Rick could hear him coming which worked as Rick glanced over his shoulder before looking back down at the graves.

"You know, I look around and I think about the people that are gone and the people that are still here. It ain't right. And it ain't fair." Daryl said as he took a few steps closer to Rick who was still kneeling on the ground, his back facing him. "Look, about what I did at Sanctuary, trying to end it real quick. I just wanted it done. I didn't want to give them another chance, not again. I knew Y/N would have been locked in a cell on the second floor, she would have been safe and then we could have gone in and got her after all the Saviours were gone. I just wanted her back man, I need her back. And I didn't care who was caught in the crossfire. I don't know if that makes it right or-"

"It does." Rick finally responded, standing up from the ground as he turned to face Daryl before looking down at the ground. "I didn't want to risk killing innocent people. I should've just been worrying about our people. Hell with anyone else."

"We'll keep fighting until you're ready." Daryl replied as Rick lifted his head to look at him.

"I'm ready. Maggie's got lookouts out there." Rick explained and Daryl nodded.

"Every half-mile, waiting to signal each other, I know."

"I'm going too. To make sure we're all ready." Rick said.

"I'll go with you." Daryl replied, but Rick shook his head.

"We should split up. We're covering as much ground as we can." Rick responded and Daryl looked at him for a few seconds trying to contemplate if it's a good idea for Rick to go by himself.

"Alright." Daryl simply said, figuring even if he said no, there would be no way he'd be able to stop Rick from doing what he wanted.

"I'm okay." Rick reassured, but it sounded like he was trying to convince himself more than Daryl.

"Yeah?" Daryl asked, his eyes watching Rick who was trying to hold it together.

"I'm gonna be okay." Rick mumbled as Daryl looked down at the ground not knowing what to say as Rick began walking off. "Daryl... Thank you, for getting them here and we will get Y/N  back." Rick said over his shoulder and Daryl nodded before Rick continued walking. God, he really hoped Rick was right. 

 


	10. Chapter 10

  
You had found the motorcycles without any trouble. With half of the Saviours out with Negan, not many were walking around the building, much less standing on guard outside. As Dwight had told you the bike closest to the door matched the key he had given you and you noticed a golden 50 calibre desert eagle handgun placed on the motorcycles seat. You quickly grabbed the handgun, taking in the features of the pristine weapon for a split second before tucking it into your belt and climbing onto the motorcycle.

Five minutes later you were riding down the road, the Sanctuary disappearing in the side mirrors of the Harley Davidson as you made your way towards Hilltop. You knew the Saviours were on their way as well so you took the shortcut through the back roads, hoping like hell that you could get there before Negan and warn everyone.

You glanced down checking how much fuel was left in the bike to find it was still three quarters full, but you didn't have time to be relieved about it because when you looked back up at the road a dozen or so walkers stumbled out from the woods right in front of you.

"God damnit." You muttered, swerving to miss a few of them but you turned too sharply and before you knew what was happening the bike suddenly flipped and you hit the ground, tumbling down the road a few metres before landing on your side.

"Shit." You groaned, your body erupting in pain as you tried to sit yourself up on the ground and you looked over your body to make sure you were okay. Your bare arms were covered in blood and dirt, but luckily your legs were covered by your jeans which resulted in only a few scratches over your thighs.

You felt something wet slowly drip down the side of your face and you knew it was blood, but you didn't have time to check where it was coming from as you heard the familiar sound of walkers groaning from behind you.

Acting on instinct you quickly got to your feet, nearly falling back down on the ground as your right leg buckled from underneath you. Looking down at your leg you noticed a thick cut through your jeans exposing a deep gash in your thigh that was oozing blood. Fucking perfect.

You didn't have time to deal with it at the moment or to wonder how you didn't notice it before, there were walkers coming towards you and suddenly your survival instincts kicked in. You quickly pulled the desert eagle from your belt as you turned around to find the ten walkers stumbling towards you. You didn't want to waste your ammo, knowing 50 calibre desert eagles only held seven bullets in its magazine, but you didn't have any other weapons so you pulled the slide back, cocking the gun as you aimed at the first walker before squeezing the trigger.

You watched the walker hit the ground before you aimed at the next pulling the trigger. You continued taking down the walkers until you ran out of bullets, your handgun making that dreadful clicking noise indicating that the magazine was empty.

You had to think of something and think of something quick. The last three walkers heading straight for you as you scanned the ground where you sat and spotted a rock a few metres away. That was gonna have to do.

You quickly crawled over to the rock, ignoring the sharp pain coming from your thigh before you turned around, just in time as the first walker landed on top of you. A surprised yelp left your mouth as you held the walker's shoulders to stop its snapping jaws from biting your face before you slammed the rock into the side of its head and it dropped to the ground dead besides you.

Half a second later the last two walkers stumbled towards you and your eyes landed on the metal crowbar sticking out the larger walkers' shoulder. You needed that crowbar, but there was no way you could get it while on the ground.

Clenching your jaw tightly you forced yourself up onto your feet, ignoring the pain in your thigh as you pushed the other walker away before turning your attention to the crowbar in the larger walker.

You quickly grabbed the crowbar, yanking it out the walkers flesh narrowly avoiding its snapping teeth before you slammed the end of the bar into the side of its head and did the same to the other walker before you dropped back to the ground.

You needed to stop the bleeding from the cut on your thigh, you didn't want to risk passing out from blood loss while riding to the Hilltop, so you quickly kicked you boot off, pulling your dirty sock off as you began to tie it around your thigh. It wasn't the most cleanest bandage, but it was going to have to do, you were wasting valuable time and there was no doubt more walkers were heading in your direction after hearing the gunshots. You quickly put your boot back on and limped over to the motorcycle that was lying on the dirt a few metres away.

It was scratched and dirty, but nothing seemed to be broken so you lifted the bike back up, ignoring the pain radiation from your sore body as you sat back down on the seat, starting the engine before taking off again towards Hilltop.

-

The sun was slowly setting by the time the walls of Hilltop came into your view and you sighed with relief realising that the Saviours weren't there yet. As you got closer you could see Rosita, Enid and Michonne all standing guard up by the gate and you waved your hand in the air to get their attention.

You slowed the motorcycle down slightly as the gates opened before you rode into the community. It had changed a lot since the last time you were there, there were more vehicles inside the fences and more wooden huts and tents set up too. You recognised people from Alexandria and the Kingdom all walking around the community and you realised this was where everyone was living now. You didn't have much time to take in how well the Hilltop had advanced since Maggie took over because you had to warn them about the Saviours.

"Y/N!" Maggie shouted running over to you as you parked the bike as soon as you were inside the fences before you quickly climbed off the seat, nearly falling over from the pain exploding through your thigh when you felt a pair of hands grab your shoulders, keeping you up right. You glanced over your shoulder and had to do a double take when you realised it was Carol behind you.

"Carol... You're okay." You mumbled in shocked noticing she was wearing the Kingdoms armour as she smiled through teary eyes pulling you into a tight hug. You froze the sudden contact, your body going tense before you hugged her back. You looked over Carols shoulder to find Maggie, Michonne, Jesus, Rosita, Tara, Enid, Ezekiel and Jerry all walking towards you with huge smiles.

"The Saviours are coming. We have to get ready." You suddenly stated pulling away from Carol as you glanced over at the others and God have you missed them, even Ezekiel and Jerry and you barely knew them.

"We know. We have lookouts, the Saviours will be here in about 30 minutes, everyone is getting into position. Alexandria, the Kingdom and Hilltop are all here together, Negan and his men won't be taking this place from us" Maggie informed and you sighed with relief, they had a plan set in motion. This might just actually work.

"Where's Daryl? Is he okay? Where's Rick?" You questioned, looking around the community trying to spot Daryl, but all you could see were civilians from all three communities walking around the place, all staring at you. You had no doubt that most of them knew who you were, whether they knew you from being Daryl's wife or Rick's non-related sister or the girl with a bow and arrow from Alexandria. Either or, they all seemed to be looking at you with a sense of respect which was something you were not used to since being held captive at the Sanctuary for nearly a month.

"They're both fine. They are out there on lookout and will be back soon to help fight the Saviours. Man, Daryl is gonna be so happy to see you." Jesus replied giving you a smile and you couldn't help but smile back, it was good to be home.

"Come on, we need to get you to the infirmary." Michonne suddenly said reaching for your hand but you instinctively took a step back at the sudden movement and you saw the others watch you with a hint of concern in their eyes.

"I'm fine. Crashed the bike on the way here, it's just a few scratches and bruises. I need to help fight." You replied, ignoring their worried looks as you focused on Maggie and Ezekiel who you knew were in charge around here without Rick being around.

"Y/N... You have been held at the Sanctuary for weeks, you are exhausted, hurt and I don't think I want to know when the last time you had eaten was. You need to take it easy, we have plenty of fighters, you should go inside the mansion with the others who aren't fighting." Maggie tried to say but you shook your head.

"I am not going hide away in some house and do nothing while the fuckers who have used me for the past month, the same fucking people who killed so many of our loved ones, your husband, my baby... I can't just sit and do nothing!" You shouted, surprising everyone by your sudden outburst. You didn't mean to raise your voice or say all of that, but you have had enough of sitting and doing nothing. You were going to fight, plain and simple.

"It's okay Y/N. If you wish to fight, then we cannot stop you and if the rumours about you are true, that you are one of the best fighters of all of Alexandria, then I would be honoured to fight alongside you." Ezekiel suddenly said catching you by surprise.

"Me too." Jerry agreed and you smiled softly giving the two men a nod before you glanced back to Maggie and the others, who weren't as convinced yet.

"Fine, if you go to the infirmary and get your leg stitched up then I will give you the sniper rifle and you shoot from the top balcony of the mansion. You are not in fighting condition, you could barley climb off the motorcycle, so you stay on the balcony and shoot from there." Maggie instructed and you nodded before Tara started talking.

"Come with me, I'll take you to the infirmary." Tara said as the two of you walked off towards the trailers. You hadn't seen Tara since you guys took down the satellite outpost before she went off on the two-week supply run and- Oh shit, she knows about Denise now.

"Tara... I'm so sorry about Denise." You suddenly said looking over at the other woman who gave you a sad smile.

"Rick told me everything that had happened while I was away. I'm sorry about your baby and for what the Saviours did to you at the Sanctuary." Tara replied, you hadn't told anyone what happened to you at the Sanctuary and you were going to keep it that way, but Tara could tell that whatever they did to you, it was bad and you could tell she wanted to ask, but she didn't. And you were glad for that.

"The Kingdoms doctor is here as well as Siddiq, he's a doctor too, he's the guy Carl- Oh God you wouldn't know..." Tara suddenly said as the two of you stopped just before opening the trailer door.

"I know. Rick told Negan over a walkie-talkie, I was there when he said it." You replied shaking your head as you forced yourself to stay strong. You had to be strong, the others couldn't find out how broken you really were on the inside, you had to be the same strong, brave woman as you were before. Everyone needed you and you had to kill Negan, then, maybe then you could let your true emotions out.

"Siddiq? Doctor?" Tara called as she opened the door to the trailer after realising you weren't going to talk about Carl anymore. You followed her into room, trying your best not to limp as you did so.

"Everything okay? Are the Saviours here already?" A man questioned walking over to the two of you and you assumed he was Siddiq. You watched him carefully, not trusting the stranger, but you reminded yourself that Carl sacrificed his life for this man and you trusted Carl.

"This is Y/N, she's been with Rick and Daryl since the beginning. She just escaped-" Tara began to explain before Siddiq cut her off.

"The Sanctuary. The Saviours took you. Carl told me about you, he told me a lot of stories and you were in most of them. It's an honour to finally meet the woman behind all his happy memories. I'm so sorry he is gone." Siddiq suddenly said as you stared at him in shock, which you seemed to be doing a lot since you arrived at the Hilltop.

"Thank you. Carl was a damn good kid, I just wish I could have said goodbye." You replied sadly looking down at your feet before shaking your head. There was no time for emotions right now, the Saviours were coming. "I have a cut on my thigh, I think it needs stitches."

"Of course, take a seat." He said pointing towards the chair and you nodded taking a seat as you looked over at Tara catching her eye.

"Can you do this quickly, please. The Saviours will be here soon and we need her marksman skills with the sniper. I would feel a lot better if I knew she was watching our backs." Tara said giving you a reassuring smile as Siddiq knelt next to you and nodded.

"I can cut a larger hole in your jeans to stitch the cut if you want or you can take the jeans off while I stitch it." Siddiq said looking up at you, wanting to know which you preferred.

"The jeans already have holes in them, might as well add another." You replied with a soft laugh, but truth be told the mere thought of taking your pants off in front of anyone right now sent shivers down your spine.

Within five minutes you were back outside walking over to Maggie who was standing by the front door of the mansion. There was a makeshift barricade covering the front of the porch and you noticed a few assault rifles leaning against it, ready for when the Saviours showed up.

"You still have blood over your arms and the side of your face." Maggie stated with a frown and you rolled your eyes at your best friend's concern. Man, you had missed hanging out with Maggie.

"I told him to just stitch my leg, the rest could wait. " You replied glancing over your shoulder towards the closed gate, the sun was beginning to set along the horizon and you knew how dangerous it was outside the walls during dark. Where are you Daryl?

"Y/N before you find out from anyone else, I have to tell you something and you have to promise not to freak out." Maggie suddenly said after a few seconds of silence, the two of you both looking out to the horizon taking in the sunset. You turned back around meeting Maggies gaze and you instantly knew whatever she had to say was not good. "We have a dozen Saviours here, they are locked in the pen we made for them over there." Maggie said pointing behind you and you quickly turned around and spotted a tall wire fence like prison near the gates. They had captured some Saviours and are keeping them as prisoners here? What the hell?!

"Is the fence secure? They c-can't get out right?" You questioned trying not to sound worried, but you were. If these Saviours were like the ones at the Sanctuary and they managed to escape, it would not end well.

"It is 100 percent secure and we have 24-hour guard shifts watching their every move. They can't get out and if they do, I won't let them hurt you. Daryl wouldn't let them hurt you." Maggie reassured noticing your slight panic as she gently placed her hand on your shoulder as you flinched away at the sudden contact and she quickly removed her hand.

"What did they do to you?" Maggie asked softly, watching with concern as you looked away not wanting to talk about it and she sighed. "Whatever happened at the Sanctuary, whatever they did to you and put you through, just know you have people here who care about you and are here if you ever wanna talk about. Bottling it up and keeping it to yourself won't do you any good."

"As long as Negan and the Saviours die, I don't care." You replied, grabbing the sniper rifle Maggie had leant against the door as she handed you a few spare magazines before you walked into the mansion, ignoring all the civilians walking around inside as you made your way up the stairs before walking out on the balcony.

You leant against the railing, taking a few deep breaths of the fresh night air, watching as the sun disappeared along the horizon. You looked down at the community below you as everyone began getting their weapons and getting in position. You watched cautiously as Maggie and Jesus let the prisoners out their cage and began walking them towards the mansion so they were out of the way. You knew there would be people guarding and watching their every step, but you still didn't like the idea of them hiding inside the building with all the civilians, women, children... it just didn't sit right with you, but you trusted Maggie, she knew what she was doing.

-

By the time the sky was completely dark you were lying on your stomach, the bolt-action sniper pressed against your shoulder as you looked through the scope trying to find the best position to lay where you could see the whole area. After a few minutes of moving around, you finally found a good spot, where you could see everyone and suddenly you could see the headlights of multiple vehicles heading towards the Hilltop. They're here.

You looked through the scope towards Jerry as he gave the signal that the Saviours where coming. You shifted the gun back towards the vehicles and you watched as they all stopped and began climbing out a few hundred metres away, where you knew Rosita and Jesus had placed road blocks.

You could see everything so clearly through the scope as you watched Simon and Dwight climb out the main truck and you frowned in confusion. Where's Negan? You continued watching, the crosshairs of the sniper hovering over Simons forehead the entire time as he pulled out a walkie-talkie and you knew he was talking to Maggie. You could have easily pulled the trigger and killed Negan's right hand man, but Maggie was trying to reason with him, so you didn't. But after a few minutes he put the walkie away and you knew the fighting was about to begin.

Taking in a few deep breaths you held your finger over the trigger as you steadied the crosshairs of the scope on Simon's head, but just as you were about to pull the trigger someone began firing at them and they all ducked for cover and climbed into their vehicles.

"What the hell?" You muttered as looked around and that's when you saw him. Daryl. On his motorcycle, firing off bullets at the Saviours before he sped into Hilltop followed by one of the Saviours trucks and you watched in shock as someone drove the bus forward, causing the truck to ram into the side of the bus blocking the entrance for any other vehicles to enter the Hilltop.

"Now!" You heard Maggie shout as everyone began firing at the Saviours and you wasted no time, lining up the first Saviour you saw and squeezed the trigger watching the man drop to the ground in an instant before you pulled the bolt leaver back, reloading the sniper as you took down another. The boom of your sniper, louder than any other guns and you noticed a few people glancing up at the balcony trying to figure out who the sniper was. The Saviours suddenly had archers, firing arrows into the community from outside the walls and you watched as a few people began getting hit by the arrows. Nope. Not happening. You moved slightly towards the archers, looking through the scope as you began taking them down, one by one.

You got into a familiar pattern. Breath in. Aim. Breath out as you squeezed the trigger. Reload. Repeat. Breath in. Aim. Breath out as you squeezed the trigger. Reload. Repeat. None of them knowing where or how they were getting shot at, as you took down the last archer before focusing back on the Saviours inside the walls.

You spotted a man stab Tobin and you quickly pulled the trigger, killing the Saviour before he could finish the job as you watched Carol run over to him and you knew he was in safe hands.

You scanned the yard looking for Daryl as you spotted him. He was crouched behind a car watching someone, but before you could scan the yard for who he was so focused on you spotted a Saviour running up behind him with a knife. Without hesitation you pulled the trigger as the man fell to the ground a metre away from Daryl, causing him to flinch as he looked at the dead body before up at the balcony and you could see the confusion on his face as he tried to work out who the sniper was. It was too dark, there was no way he could see you from down there, which was why none of the Saviours had spotted you yet.

You began scanning the yard again and saw Simon and Dwight sneaking towards Tara and you began firing at them as they ducked behind cars and tents, but it was too late. Dwight fired his crossbow and you watched through the scope of your gun as the bolt landed in her shoulder and she went down. Oh no. Dwight was so dead. Just because he tried making things right by helping you escape, it didn't make you guys even and you were gonna kill him.

But before you could reload, smoke grenades started to explode, and you knew that was the signal. It was time to kill all the lights. Taking these few seconds as the others started shooting at car lights to turn them off you quickly swapped magazines in the sniper and by the time you looked through the scope all the lights had been destroyed. Now we wait for the next signal, you thought to yourself. Your finger hovered over the trigger as you scanned the yard, everything dead silent before the Saviours signature whistle started echoing throughout the yard sending shivers down your spine. 

A few seconds later the lights on the vehicles parked in front of the mansion turned on, momentarily blinding the Saviours as you began firing again. You lined up the nearest Saviours, taking them down, but you kept your eye out for Negan. He had to be here, he left with them, so where the hell is he?

The Saviours all began retreating back to their trucks outside the gates and you grinned as more lights suddenly turned on outside the gates as Rick and the others who were on lookout began running through the gates, firing at the Saviours.

The gunfire went on for a few more minutes before the surviving Saviours managed to get to their vehicles and you watched as Maggie and Rick ran to the gates, firing off the last of their rounds at the fleeing trucks. It was over for now, but the Saviours would be back no doubt about it. 

 


	11. Chapter 11

    
People began carrying the injured towards the infirmary and stabbing all the dead bodies to make sure they stayed dead. It was good seeing all the communities working together and helping each other. You spotted Rick and Maggie talking by the gate as Daryl began walking over to them. You quickly got to your feet, ignoring the pain in your leg as you slung the sniper over your shoulder and walked back into the building, slowly making your way down the stairs. Your thigh was stitched up nicely, but it still stung like a bitch.

You walked out the front doors of the mansion, spotting the three of them all standing by the gate talking, Rick and Daryl with their backs to you as they faced Maggie while you walked over to them, trying your best not to limp. You couldn't quite hear what they were saying, but suddenly Maggie nodded over their shoulders towards you and you watched as the two men turned around and they both froze staring at you as you walked towards them.

"Y/N?" Rick questioned in confusion, but before you could say anything Daryl ran over to you and you dropped the sniper to the ground as he wrapped you into a tight hug and you hugged him back, your face resting on his chest as he buried his face in the crook of your neck.

Neither of you said anything for a few minutes as you held each other tightly. Daryl's touch making you feel safe, all your worries and memories from the Sanctuary disappearing like smoke in the wind. In Daryl's arms you felt the most calm you have had in weeks with the familiar smell of cigarettes, leather and motor oil as he squeezed you gently.

"I told ya not to do anythin' stupid while I wasn't there to protect ya." Daryl muttered, his voice breaking at the end as he pulled away, keeping his arms on your shoulders as he took in your features. The fading bruise on your cheek, the bags under your eyes, the cut on your forehead with dry blood along the right side of your face, all the bloodied scrapes and bruises down your arms, the cuts and rips in your jeans, the long gash on the side of your thigh that was stitched up and he could only imagine what laid under your clothes.

"Guess I should've listened to you, huh?" You replied with a soft chuckle, trying to make light of the situation because you knew as soon as you started talking about it seriously you wouldn't be able to hold onto your brave mask anymore and you didn't want to break down, not now. Not until Negan and the Saviours were dead.

Daryl grunted in response as he cupped your cheeks and kissed you slow but desperately before pulling away, resting your foreheads together.

"I love you." You said softly wiping a stray tear off his face, resting the palm of your hand on his cheek as he grabbed it, kissing your palm gently.

"I love ya too." He replied before pulling away as Rick walked over to the two of you slowly and you smiled turning to your brother like figure, his eyes watery as he held back tears just as Daryl. You wasted no time as you took a step towards him as he embraced you with a tight hug.

"I'm so sorry, Rick." You whispered squeezing him softly as he took a sharp breath trying to control his emotions, knowing you were referring to Carl.

"I'm sorry too." He replied pulling away as he looked over at Daryl who reached for your hand and you flinched away at the contact, causing Daryl to glance up at you in confusion before you grabbed his hand. But Daryl knew something was wrong, you never flinched at his touch before, not since Hershel's farm. But he didn't ask about it, he heard what Negan said about the rape, he was still hoping like hell that Negan was lying, but he knew deep down he wasn't and he knew there was more to the story.

-

The next morning you woke up before the sun. Your dreams filled with nightmares about the Sanctuary and James. Daryl was still asleep in bed while you stood in front of the window watching out over the Hilltop yard at all the tents and make shift beds people had set up around the area. There was a lot of people at the Hilltop now and not many places to sleep, so people were either in tents outside, in the trailers, in the mansion sleeping in sleeping bags on the floor by the stairs and up the stairs on the second floor or in the spare rooms in the mansion, which is where you and Daryl where. At first you were reluctant to take one of the rooms and a bed as others had to sleep on carpet or in tents. But Maggie insisted for you and Daryl to take one of the spare rooms. Rick and Michonne were in the room next door with Judith's cot and Tara, Rosita, Maggie, Carol, Enid and baby Gracie all slept in the other spare room. While a few other people shared the other spare rooms.

Daryl had told you about everything you missed. The garbage people. Oceanside. The attack on the Sanctuary with the walkers. Their attacks on all the outposts. Baby Gracie and how Rick found her. He told you about all the people they had lost since. Eric. Francis. Carl. Most the Kingdom fighters. Shiva, the Kings tiger and so many more. He told you about how he found Carol and how she joined the Kingdom to fight. He told you about Negan bombing Alexandria and how he had to lead the people of Alexandria to the safety of the Hilltop while Rick and Michonne stayed with Carl. He told you everything as your head rested your head on his chest, his arm wrapped around your shoulders as you laid in bed that night.

You didn't tell him about what happened to you at the Sanctuary, you told him that Dwight helped you escape, but that was it. You weren't ready to talk about it, hell you don't ever want to talk about it, but you knew sooner of later Daryl would ask if you don't tell him yourself and that was something you were dreading.

You glanced over your shoulder to make sure Daryl was still asleep before looking out the window for a few more seconds, watching the sky slowly starting to get lighter. You walked over to the desk on the other side of the room and began putting on the new pair of jeans Maggie had given you, along with a new white tank top and a sleeveless red flannel shirt. You buckled up your belt, clipping on a new knife holder to the side of your belt along with the knife inside. Jesus had found it on a run ages ago and since your knife was now God knows where at the Sanctuary, he gave it to you. You tucked the desert eagle in the back of your belt, but you still didn't have your compound bow, you left it at Alexandria which meant it was probably burnt and destroyed by now. Great, where am I supposed to find a compound bow and arrows in this world?

Shaking your head, you made your way to the door of the bed room, looking over at Daryl to make sure he was still asleep before you slipped out the room, shutting the door behind yourself.

You walked carefully down the steps, not wanting to wake the people who were all scattered over the ground in sleeping bags as you made your way out the main house. Only one person stirred in their sleep, but they didn't wake up and you sighed with relief, they all needed rest after the big day yesterday.

"Morning Y/N! Why are you up so early?" Jerry questioned from the guard platform by the gate as you walked towards the gates. Limping slightly from the cut on your leg, but it felt a lot better than it did yesterday.

"Just an early bird I guess. I'm gonna go out on a hunt, Maggie said last night that food is getting less and less. Figured a few extra rabbits and squirrels would go a fair way." You replied with a shrug walking past the prisoners in their fenced off cage, before one of them started talking to you.

"You're the Y/N that Negan brought back to the Sanctuary weeks ago right?" A man with long hair questioned walking over to the end of the prison so he was closer to you as you stopped walking and turned around glaring at him. The rest of the prisoners seemed to still be asleep, except this asshole. Typical. "Shit, I heard the story of how someone found you naked and unconscious and how Negan bashed the mans skull in with the bat. Shit, that was you! Damn, now I understand why that other man risked his life to get some of that." The man responded, licking his lips as his eyes wondered up and down your body, mimicking James' actions only a few weeks ago.

"Fuck off." You muttered as you turned around, glancing over towards Jerry who was watching you carefully, obviously having heard what the Saviour said.

"If you wanna go a second round with a Saviour, you know where I am. Just saying baby, I'm no weather man, but you can expect more than two inches from me tonight." The man called out with a chuckle and you shook your head, that did it.

"The fuck did you just say to me?!" You snapped pulling your handgun out from your belt as you turned around, aiming it at him. "No, seriously I couldn't hear you. Say it again, I fucking dare you." You said, cocking your gun as you took a few steps closer to the man behind the fence.

"Y/N don't!" Carol's voice suddenly shouted and you sighed, gripping the gun tighter as you glanced towards the mansion to find her running towards you. "We can't kill them!"

"She just saved your fucking life. But if I hear another word out of you again, I'm gonna make you wish you were dead." You shouted, the gun wavering in your hand for a few seconds before you forced yourself to lower the weapon. The long-haired man just grinned even more as he stared at you before you turned around motioning for Jerry to open the gates.

"Y/N wait!" Carol called, but you shook your head, not bothering to turn around to the other woman as you walked out the gates before Jerry closed them behind you and you sighed with relief. Finally, you were alone, away from everyone's concerned eyes that followed you whenever you walked around the community.

You had no idea how much people knew about your time at the Sanctuary, but it pretty clear that the Saviours knew a fair bit about it. Shaking your head you forced yourself to stop thinking about it as you walked off into the woods. You focused on trying to find any animal tracks amongst the leaf litter along the ground, holding your desert eagle in your hand as you walked around slowly. It would have been better if you had your bow, it was quieter and more effective for hunting, but your handgun was gonna have to do the job for now.

There was just something about hunting that relaxed you, even before the world turned to shit, you always found comfort in hunting. Bow hunting allowed you to get away from everyone and everything in your life, it allowed you some time to yourself when stuff started to get too hard. It was like a secret escape you could take for a few hours to just be by yourself, but now it was something you always did with Daryl. Although you enjoyed hunting alone you preferred to have Daryl's company. You had each other's backs and although two people created more noise than one, making it harder to sneak up on animals, neither of you cared. But right now, you just wanted to be alone. You missed Daryl more than words could describe, but he kept looking at you like in any second you were going to break down and hell maybe he was right, but you just couldn't stand to see the look of worry and guilt on his face every time he looked at you. He blamed himself for you being taken, he didn't even have to tell you, you could see it. It was the same look he gave you back during the prison days when you and him were thrown into a ring with Merle back in Woodbury as the Governor watched you guys fight. He blamed himself for putting you in the situation even though it was your choice to help him get his brother back.

-

"Rick have ya seen Y/N? I can't find her." Daryl stated, jogging over to Rick who was sitting on the steps to the mansion. Everyone was now awake, getting stuck into the work that needed to be done after the attack last night. Bodies needed to be buried, vehicles needed to be moved, walkers that were starting to stack up outside the walls from all the gun fire needed to be killed, there was a lot of work that needed to be done and everyone was busy doing it, but he just couldn't find Y/N. He woke up to an empty bed which wasn't entirely unusual, but after everything that has happened during the past month it just didn't feel right.

"No, I haven't. She isn't helping kill the walkers outside the fence, is she? She used to do that a lot back at the prison to get rid of her anger." Rick suggested but Daryl shook his head, that was the first place he checked. Where was she? She wouldn't just wonder off, not after just escaping the Sanctuary. "How is she? I haven't had much time to talk to her, been busy wrapped up in my own stuff." Rick mumbled, looking down at the ground sadly and Daryl knew he was referring to Carl.

"She knows ya have a lot to deal with right now, don't worry about it." Daryl replied softly and Rick nodded, rubbing his beard as he looked around the community watching everyone pitching in.

"How is she though? She was a prisoner to Negan for a long time, it wouldn't have been easy and if what Negan said was true... Shit, is she alright?" Rick asked looking over at Daryl with pleading eyes, he just wished he had an answer for him because he had no idea. She barely said anything last night, she just listened as he informed her on everything that happened while she was gone and that was about it.

"I don't know man. She won't talk to me about it. She keeps acting like everythin' is fine, but something ain't right." Daryl admitted shaking his head as he leant against the railing of the steps looking down at Rick who suddenly stood up waving at someone to come over.

"Everything alright?" Carol asked walking over to the two of them.

"Have you seen Y/N around here somewhere? We can't find her." Rick asked as Daryl glanced around the yard trying to spot her.

"Wait I thought she would have told you." Carol replied which caught Daryl's attention real quick.

"Told me what?" He asked looking at Carol who sighed before explaining.

"She went out hunting before the sun was even up. I tried to talk to her, but she just walked off." Carol answered, but he could tell she wasn't telling him something as he stared at her and she sighed before continuing. "When I walked out the house this morning, I saw Y/N standing by the prisoner's cage with her gun raised at one of the Saviours. I stopped her, but before I could talk to her properly she walked out the gates. Jerry was on guard, told me she was going hunting before one of the Saviours started making sexual comments to her and mentioned something that happened at the Sanctuary that made her snap."

"I'm gonna kill that prick. Which one was it?" Daryl suddenly shouted as he began walking towards the prisoner's cage before Rick grabbed his shoulder pulling him away.

"We can't kill them. Not yet anyway." Rick muttered, gripping Daryl's shoulder tightly until the other man began to calm down. "I need you to keep a level head. The Saviours might attack again, I need you, Daryl. Don't let the prisoners get to you. Y/N can handle herself." Rick muttered, still holding Daryl's shoulder who took a deep breath before nodding.

"Fine. But if any of them step out of line, I'm killin' them." Daryl muttered before he walked off. He needed to keep his mind busy otherwise he will end up killing all the prisoners for saying shit to his girl. He wanted nothing more than to go out into the woods and find you, but he knew if you left without telling him then you needed some time alone and he wasn't about to jump in and ruin it. You could take care of yourself out there, he knew that, but it still didn't stop him from worrying.

-

The sun was now high in the sky and you knew you should probably head back to Hilltop soon, you had gotten a dozen rabbits and although it wasn't enough to feed everyone it at least allowed Maggie to give everyone larger portions of food. By the time you got back to the community and skinned the rabbits it would be close to dark, so you figured you should head back. God, Daryl was probably going out of his mind right now. 

"Hey, Y/N, are you okay?" Rosita questioned from the guard platform by the gate as you got close enough to hear her.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Got some rabbits for the groups to share." You shouted back, holding up the rope that was slung over your shoulder with the rabbits hanging off. Rosita nodded before opening the large gates for you as you walked in, making a point to glare at the Saviours in the cage to your left before you spotted Daryl over by the cars talking to Tara.

You began heading that way, before someone called your name and you looked around trying to find the source of the voice before you spotted Enid jogging over to you and you smiled.

"Hey, everything alright?" You asked walking over to the young girl, adjusting the rope over your shoulder.

"Yeah, I was just going to ask it you're okay? Someone said you went out hunting, you were gone for a while." Enid said and you smiled. It was sweet that she wanted to make sure you were okay, but everyone had been asking you that lately and it was starting to get annoying. You were Negan's prisoner for a month and it was like hell, but Rick literally just lost his son a few days ago, you were perfectly fine compared to him.

"I'm okay, don't worry. Just gonna go get Daryl so we can skin these rabbits for everyone." You explain and she nodded.

"Also, Michonne said she managed to grab your bow from Alexandria and that it's sitting in Maggies office." Enid quickly said as you began walking off and you couldn't help but smile. You had your bow back, the same bow you have had since before this all started.

"Thanks, Enid." You replied as she stepped out your way as you walked over to Daryl and Tara.

"Was that before or after he killed your girl? Or is that all square now?" You heard Daryl ask as you began getting closer to the two of them and you knew they were talking about Dwight.

"It is. Look, I might hate him forever, but he saved my life." Tara replied and you rolled your eyes. You saw it with your own eyes, Dwight was trying to kill her, but he missed.

"No, he tried to kill you last night." Daryl responded.

"When we were in the woods, when we were coming here, I saw him try and help us win." Tara stated as you walked over to the two of them, catching both their attention as they looked over at you and you saw the tension on Daryls face dissapear as you reached his side.

"Yeah. I saw what I saw, too." Daryl muttered before grabbing your hand in his as he began walking off. You quickly gave Tara an apolagetic look and she smiled giving you an understanding nod before you followed Daryl, his hand still in yours.

"Ya alright?" He asked as the two of you walked around to the back of Hilltop so you could skin and gut the rabbits away from the others.

"I'm fine. I'm sorry for just dissapearing like that, I..." You sighed not knowing what to say as you looked down at the ground not wanting to meet his gaze.

"Hey. Y/N look at me." Daryl said softly placing his hand on your shoulder and you flinched at the sudden contact but didn't pull away as you looked up meeting his eyes. "Ya have nothin' to apologise for. Just please don't go off on ya own like that, I can't lose ya, not again." He whispered, emotion deep in his voice as you dropped the rope of rabbits on the ground, pulling Daryl into a tight hug.

"I'm not ever leaving your side, Dixon." You said kissing him on the cheek before he rested his hand on the back of your head, pulling you in closer to him. The two of you stayed like for a while before you eventually pulled apart and started getting the rabbits ready for your people.

That night everyone sat around outside, eating the rabbit you had caught along with canned food and food the Hilltop had grown. It was nice sitting and eating with everyone, listening to people talk amongst each other, it almost as if the three communities had become one.

"Hey, are you okay?" Jesus suddenly asked taking a seat on the ground next to you, while Daryl sat on the other side, eating his portion of food.

"I swear to God if someone else asks me if I'm okay, I'm gonna punch them." You groaned in annoyance looking across at Jesus who smirked with amusement.

"We're all just worried about you." He defended holding his hands up in surrender, not wanting you to punch him and you rolled at your eyes with a soft smile.

"I'm fine. You should be worried about Rick, he just lost his son a few days ago. I'm perfectly fine." You answered glancing over at Rick with Judith in his lap and Michonne sitting next to him on the other side of the yard silently eating.

"Alright, that's fair enough. Great rabbit by the way." Jesus commented, taking a bite of meat.

"Thank Daryl, he skinned and cooked them for everyone. That's something I have yet to master. I'm a terrible cook." You admitted, and Daryl hummed in agreement, bumping you with his elbow slightly and you giggled, pushing him back and you saw the corners of Daryl's mouth twitch up in a slight smile as you did so.

"You can't be that bad." Jesus tried to say but you shook your head.

"The first week we arrived at Alexandria, she set the stove on fire... twice." Daryl muttered, and you laughed covering your face with your hands as you felt your cheeks blush.

"My cooking is fabulous, thank you very much. Even the smoke alarms cheer me on." You responded causing Daryl to snort with a soft chuckle as Jesus started laughing and you couldn't help but laugh with them.

The three of you continued to talk for a little bit, exchanging funny and embarrassing stories while you finished your tea. A few others joined in on the conversation and after while you stopped talking and just listened to the others talk, it was nice just to be able to sit back and relax with your friends and family around you.

"Well I think it's time for someone's bedtime." Maggie suddenly stated rocking baby Gracie in her arms and your heart melted looking at the baby girl, who was struggling to keep her eyes open.

"Here, let me take her. You sit down and rest, I can take her to her cot." You said, standing up and walking over to Maggie before she managed to reply.

"You sure?" Maggie asked carefully and you nodded. You hadn't held a baby or even Judith since losing your baby and Maggie obviously realised that too. You held your hands out as Maggie gently placed Gracie in your arms and you pulled her to your chest, making sure to cradle her neck as you began walking to the mansion to put her to bed. So this is what it would have felt like...

 


	12. Chapter 12

You walked up the stairs slowly, rocking the precious baby in your arms gently as you entered the room where her cot was. You stood in front of the cot, the room lit up by a few candles as you looked down at Gracie in your arms as she stared back up at you with bright hazel eyes and you smiled.

"Hey, sweetheart. You ready for bed?" You asked softly as she made a cute noise that sounded almost like a laugh and you smiled. So, this is what it would have felt like to hold your baby, you thought to yourself while you fixed her shirt as she reached for your hand. Her little fingers grasping yours, with a surprisingly strong grip as she smiled looking up at you and suddenly you could feel tears welling up in your eyes, but you didn't allow them to spill. It was almost as if she knew you needed comfort right now, like she knew you needed a little bit happiness to dull your pain.

You held her tightly to your chest and you knew in that moment that you would never let anything bad ever happen to her. You would keep her safe, no matter what happened and if the Saviours for some reason tried to take her back, you would protect her and kill anyone who tries to hurt her.

You held her for a few more minutes, rocking her softly as she began falling asleep. You heard the bedroom door open slowly as someone began walking towards you and you could tell by the sound of their footsteps that it was Daryl. You didn't bother turning around because in a matter of seconds Daryl was standing behind you, his hands gently wrapping around your stomach as he rested his head on your shoulder.

The two of you stood like that for nearly five minutes, slowly rocking Gracie in your arms and you couldn't help the tear that trickled down your cheek as you thought of your own baby and how good of a father Daryl would have been. Your tear dropped from your face landing on Daryl's arm and you prayed that he wouldn't notice, but he clearly did as his body shifted slightly in confusion.

"Hey." Daryl whispered softly, but you ignored him as you gently placed Gracie in her cot, watching the sleeping baby for a few seconds before you began walking out the room, Daryl close behind you.

"I'm gonna go have a shower." You stated, not wanting him to see the tears in your eyes as you kept walking down the hallway towards yours and Daryl's bedroom which you knew had a bathroom.

"Y/N, wait." Daryl called, grabbing your shoulder, but you shrugged his hand off and kept walking.

"I said I'm having a shower!" You snapped, glancing over at Daryl who stop walking as he stared at you in concern. He heard the pain behind your shout and as he looked into your eyes he saw it. Your sudden anger was nothing but a shield for your pain, but before he could say anything you disappeared into the bedroom and he heard the bathroom door open and slam shut.

You closed door behind yourself before you began taking your clothes off as you leant against the bathroom sink. You looked over at the mirror and you could barely recognise the face staring back at you. Your eyes wondered over your body, taking in every imperfection. The small circular scar on your left shoulder from when you were shot while helping Sophia. The multiple think, long scars scattered over your chest and stomach. The fading bruises along the sides of your stomach from James grabbing you. You could faintly make out his finger prints in some of the darker bruises and you quickly looked away staring down at the sink as you tried not to think about it.

_"Nobody cares about you, I'm doing you a favour."_

_"If I don't do it, someone else will anyway."_

_"Just say yes now and I won't have to beat you unconscious first."_ James' voice echoed through your mind like it was repeat as you shook your head to try get rid of his voice, but it just kept getting louder and louder until you snapped, slamming your fist into the mirror in front of you. The glass cracked beneath your knuckles, but luckily none of it fell as you removed your hand to find blood seeping through the cracks in the mirror.

You took a few steps back from the now broken mirror before you stepped into the shower turning the taps as water began falling over your naked body. You're fine. You're going to be fine. It's over. James is dead, you escaped the Sanctuary. Everything is fine. You tried to tell yourself, looking down at your feet as the blood from your knuckles slowly washed down the drain. You stared at the water washing down your body for a few minutes and you didn't even realise you were crying until a mumbled sob fell from your lips and that was it. You couldn't hold it in anymore. The events from the past month finally catching up to you as you shakily sat down against the shower wall, bringing your knees to your chest as you wrapped your arms around them, making yourself as small as possible. The water washing over you as you silently broke down.

Memories of James filling your head, images of him flashing through your mind as you thought about all the things he had done to you. All the times he locked you in that God-awful room and forced himself on you. All the times he would beat you when you tried defending yourself or just because he felt like it. All the times he lied to Negan about why you were covered in bruises and cuts. Everything just coming to the surface as if a dam gate had just been opened and everything was flooding in.

You didn't even notice the bathroom door open or notice the water in the shower being turned off. You thought someone was calling your name, but all you could focus on was your racing heart as you tried to breath, but it felt like someone was pushing down on your chest, making your breaths come out short and fast.

Suddenly a gentle hand grabbed your chin, lifting your head up as your eyes landed on Daryl who was crouched down in front of you in the shower, his eyes filled with worry and concern. His mouth was moving, but you couldn't make out what he was saying above the pounding in your ears. You knew you were in the middle of panic attack, and you wanted to move, you wanted to say something, but you couldn't, all you could think about was James. The feeling of his rough fingers tracing over your body, the smell of his whisky tinged breath, his glazed over eyes roaming your body and his crooked grin.

"Hey, hey Y/N. Focus on my voice. Look at me, alright?" You could hear Daryl instruct, but you couldn't focus on him as you looked back down at your knees in front of you. But suddenly Daryl was cupping your cheeks, his warm touch slowly bringing you back as you stared at him through your teary eyes as he leant down closer to you before he slowly lifted you up out the shower.

The next few minutes went by in a blur, but once you managed to bring yourself out of the haze you realised you were on the bed, a bandage wrapped around your bleeding knuckles and a towel wrapped around your body as you leant against Daryl's chest, his arms holding you tightly.

"It's alright, you're safe. Just breathe." Daryl said softly as tears rolled down your cheeks while you forced yourself to take a few deep breaths, knowing Daryl was right. After what felt like hours, but was probably only a few minutes, you managed to get your breathing under control. Your body still trembling under Daryl's hold as he placed a gentle kiss on the top of your head.

"I-I'm sorry." You said, your voice coming out a mere whisper and Daryl shifted on the bed slightly so he could look at you, but you looked away not wanting to meet his gaze.

"Nothin' to be sorry for." He said quietly and you could feel his eyes watching you as you stared down your hands, that you didn't even realise were shaking so much until Daryl grabbed them with his holding them tightly. "What happened at the Sanctuary?" He asked softly and you knew it was coming, you couldn't expect him to just drop the topic after finding you on the shower floor breaking down and he without a doubt saw all the fading bruises on your body.

But you didn't say anything for a few minutes, trying to work out where to start. Daryl sat there patiently, knowing you were trying to think of the right words before you looked over at him. Your eyes red as a few tears escaped, trailing down your cheeks.

"T-there was this Saviour, the one assigned to watch me... I tried to stop it. I-I tried to defend myself, but it just made him angrier. The first time he did it, I didn't even realise it was going to happen until he took me to an empty room and locked the door. After that he didn't even bother taking me to a different room, he would just sneak into my cell and whenever I'd try scream for help or fight back he'd beat me and I just didn't know what to do. The first time he did it, he knocked me unconscious and I had to be checked out by the nurse and when Negan found out, the Saviour lied and said someone else did it. And it just kept happening and happening... I have never been so scared in my life while I sat in that cell just waiting for him to come back. I didn't know what to do..." You trailed off, more tears sliding down your cheeks as you bit your lip to stop yourself from sobbing. You didn't have to go into detail about what happened because Daryl quickly put the pieces together himself.

"I'm so sorry baby. I won't ever let 'em hurt ya again. You're safe now Y/N, alright? You're safe now." Daryl said softly, rubbing your back gently as he tried not to let his anger take over him after hearing what the Saviours did to you. He was going to make them pay for hurting you, for killing your unborn baby, for taking you away from him, for everything they had done to the people you guys loved and cared about. The Saviours were going to pay.

-

You woke up the sounds of screams and for a split second you sat in confusion before your brain eventually woke up telling you that something was seriously wrong.

"Daryl!" You shouted jumping out the bed as you slipped your boots on, tucking your gun in your belt as you slung your bow over your shoulder. You glanced over your shoulder to make sure Daryl was awake and he was, already out of bed grabbing his knife off the bedside table and suddenly you were really glad you decided to sleep with your clothes on.

"Stay close." Daryl stated as he ran towards the door and you followed behind him as you walked out into the hallway and your eyes went wide with shock when you saw walkers roaming around the house, people screaming and crying as their flesh got torn apart.

Suddenly Daryl rushed towards the walkers, sinking his knife into their skulls and you did the same, pulling them away from innocent civilians before stabbing their brains.

"Y/N!" Daryl shouted and you turned around as Daryl pulled a walker off a woman, but there was another walker coming up next to him.

"Throw it at me!" You yelled jumping over a couple dead walkers as you rushed towards him and you could tell he didn't want to, but he didn't have a choice as he reluctantly pushed the walker towards you before he turned around to deal with the other walker trying to bite him and you quickly grabbed the walkers shoulders, holding its snapping jaws away from you as you slammed your knife through its eye socket. You quickly looked at the woman and she seemed to be okay before you glanced over at Daryl to make sure he didn't need any help before you took off running down the stairs to where most the walkers currently were.

You worked on killing the walkers closest to you before you spotted Ezekiel on the other side of the room trying to take on four by himself. God damnit. Without thinking you ran towards him, jumping over dead bodies and around tables as you sank your knife into the skull of the walker who was about to bite him. You saw him stare at you in relief, but there was no time to say anything before the other three walkers stagged closer as you swung your knife into the skull of the next walker, but as you tried to pull it out, the knife got stuck.

"Shit." You cursed under your breath as you saw another walker out the corner of your eye, but you couldn't get your knife free as you kept trying to pull it out, with no luck. "Fuck it." You muttered, letting go of the knife in the walkers skull before you slung your bow off your shoulder, slamming the end of the bow into the walkers head as it dropped to the ground dead.

"Thank you, Y/N." The King said as you turned around to find him holding out your knife that he must have retrieved for you and you took it, giving the man a nod before you jogged off noticing Rick and Daryl by the stairs taking down more walkers.

"The hell happened?" Daryl questioned looking down at the walker he just killed before looking over at you and Rick, but you shrugged your shoulders.

"I don't know. Maybe walkers got in." Rick guessed, but you shook your head.

"These are our own people, though." You stated staring at the dead bodies on the ground. This didn't make any sense, you thought to yourself when another set of screams filled the air and without saying another word you all raced up the stairs following the sound.

"You alright?" Daryl questioned rushing into the room followed by you, Rick and Maggie to find Carol, another woman and an injured man in bed.

"Yeah. He wasn't bit, but he turned." Carol stated glancing down at the walker on the ground and your heart dropped when you realised who it was. Tobin.

"How's that possible?" You questioned glancing around the room in confusion. How can people just turn like that.

"Negan's bat. When I was out there with him, it was covered in walker blood. I just thought he'd crossed some. But maybe..." Rick began saying.

"They have us working for them. Killing our own." Maggie finished and Rick nodded as you cursed under your breath. You knew the Saviours were planning something big, you just never would have guessed it would be something like this.

"It's the fever. That's what it is. It makes sense now." The man in the bed said as you looked over at him. "One of you, you're gonna have to do it. I can't. You gotta do it for me." The man begged as Maggie walked over to him, grabbing his hand for comfort before you walked out the room, giving the man some privacy as you made your way towards the spare room where the girls were sleeping. You opened the door slowly and looked in the room to find Rosita and Enid aiming their guns at you.

"Hey." You said softly holding your hands up and they sighed putting the guns down before you walked into the room followed by Rick and Daryl.

"Good out there?" Rosita questioned as you walked over to the cot to make sure Gracie was alright and you smiled softly realising she was still asleep.

"House is clear." Rick answered and you turned around to look at everyone.

"How did this happen?" Tara questioned and you all fell silent, she was shot with Dwights arrow...

"Um the Saviours did somethin' to their weapons. Everyone they cut up or got shot, they all got sick. Some of 'em turned." Daryl explained, realising you and Rick didn't want to be the one to break the news to her.

"What? No." Enid mumbled softly in disbelief, but you were too focused on Tara who stared at the floor processing the news.

"Okay." She responded looking up to meet everyone's gazes.

"When we were out there, and you said you were done waiting, I coulda killed him. I shoulda." Daryl admitted, and you could hear the guilt behind his tone.

"No. He wanted to be here with us. And no matter what he did or how hard he tried, I wanted him dead. I just couldn't let it be anything else. Karma's a bitch, right?" Tara said with a sad smile and you shook your head.

"Everyone who got hit with an infected weapon has gotten a fever already and correct me if I'm wrong, but you look perfectly fine. Maybe you got lucky and Dwight hit you with a clean arrow?" You suggested looking around at everyone who smiled softly at your attempt to try lighten the mood.

-

The next morning you sat with Daryl on the tailgate of one of the trucks as he sharped his bolts with his knife while teaching you how to sharpen your arrows. There was a slight trick to it, having to slice the knife down against the broadhead of the arrow at a certain angle otherwise you would make it blunter instead of sharper.

"Why is this so difficult?" You whined putting your knife back in the holder of your belt, giving up at trying to sharpen your arrows, you were doing more damage than good.

"You've sharpened a knife before, right?" Daryl asked, and you nodded. "Well it's kinda like that, but on a smaller scale. Here watch me." Daryl said grabbing your arrow as he slowly began sharpening it with his knife.

"You make it look easy." You mumbled taking your arrow back as you clipped it on the quiver attached to your bow before Tara walked down the steps of the mansion looking happy and healthy.

"Hey." You and Daryl both greeted, and she smiled heading over to the two of you.

"It's been over a day and still not sick. Doc says I'm cool." Tara announced and you couldn't help but smile at the news. Finally, some good news for once!

"You're a tough son of a bitch." Daryl stated glancing up at her before he went back to sharpening his bolts for his crossbow.

"It just means Dwight shot me with a clean arrow." Tara replied causing Daryl to look back up at her shaking his head.

"It means ya got lucky. Could be anythin'. It's not like a bite, sometimes nothin' happens." Daryl said as you glanced between the two of them. You weren't sure if you should cut in on the conversation, knowing that Daryl could easily get worked up over Dwight and the Saviours, but you were kinda curious to see where this was going to lead, so you stayed silent.

"Daryl, look-" Tara tried to say, but Daryl cut her off.

"If Dwight knew, he could've warned us, could've sent us a message."

"Maybe he couldn't." Tara defended and you shook your head. Dwight might have been the reason you were able to escape, but you were still going to kill him if you ever got the chance. He killed and hurt your family and once someone messed with your family, there was no going back.

"He let a whole day go by while our people laid around dying. Yes, he might have shot you with a clean arrow on purpose to somehow save your life, but that does not make up for all the lives he has taken and shit he has put us through. You can forgive him all you want, but next time I see that son of a bitch I'm killing him." You stated firmly as Daryl put his hand on your knee, squeezing it gently to calm you down and you took a deep breath.

"I know, but we might need him now more than ever. And what I'm saying is that if I had killed him, maybe I would be dead right now. Look do what you gotta do. But know it's just for you guys. I'm out." Tara replied glancing between the two of you before she walked back into the building. You sighed, rubbing your hands over your face. You understood where Tara was coming from, but you just wished she understood where you and Daryl were coming from.

"Ya alright?" Daryl asked softly, removing his hand from your knee as you looked across at him and nodded.

"I just can't wait for all of this to be over." You replied, and Daryl grunted in agreement as the two of you continued sharpening your weapons.

-  
 ***Later that day***

"Hey Y/N." Rosita shouted catching your attention as you turned around to find her and Daryl walking out the mansion towards you as you put the axe down, quickly stacking the freshly cut pieces of wood before walking over to the two of them.

"What's up?" You questioned, wiping the sweat off your forehead as you fixed the strap of your bow over your shoulder.

"We're gonna scout out a building Eugene took me too when he made that bullet. We think Negan might have him in there making the Saviours bullets." Rosita explained as she climbed into the drivers side of one of the cars and you slipped into the backseat while Daryl sat in the passenger.

"What's the plan if he is there making bullets? He was working with Negan, they are basically best friends from what I saw at the Sanctuary, I don't think Eugene will just come back with us." You responded looking at Rosita through the revision mirror.

"He won't have a choice." Daryl replied glancing back at you and you nodded before Rosita drove off. This was either going to go really well or terribly bad.

-

"Well, looks like you're right. It's up and runnin'." Daryl muttered, handing the pair of binoculars to you as you watched a group of Saviours start unloading containers filled with what looked to be bullet casings.

"Yep. Buckets of casings for Eugene to turn into hundreds of bullets." Rosita said as you handed her the binoculars.

"Let's do it now." Daryl muttered looking through the window of the old broken down house you guys found, but you shook your head.

"Nah, we don't take out the machines. We take out the men." You stated staring down at the Saviours down the street who had no idea you were there. If you had that sniper rifle, you could just about take them all out.

"Y/N's right. We wait for day break and then we go in." Rosita said putting the binoculars down as she glanced around the room you guys were in. "You guys get some sleep. I'll take first watch."

"You sure?" You asked and she nodded. "Alright, wake me up in a few hours. You need rest too." You stated before you and Daryl stood up walking over towards one of the couches that were by the wall. You could have gone to one of the other rooms downstairs, but you both knew you all should stick together so as Rosita made herself comfortable by the window keeping an eye on the Saviours, you and Daryl laid side by side on the longer couch. His arms wrapped around your waist protectively, his head resting on your shoulder and you couldn't help but smile before you fell asleep. 

 


	13. Chapter 13

  
"Y/N!"

"It's just a dream. I'm here, wake up." Someone shouted in the background, but you couldn't focus. Everything was black and suddenly you were back in the line-up on your knees watching as Negan bashed Abraham and Glenn to death. You could hear the cracking of their skulls, hit after hit after hit as blood splattered everywhere. You could hear Maggie, Sasha and Rosita all sobbing and suddenly you were in the cell. Everything was dark as you curled up against the corner of your room, your bare skin shivering against the cement wall as you waited for James to show up. It wasn't a matter of if he was gonna show up, it was a matter of when and before you knew it your cell door opened and he walked in with a toothy grin.

"Y/N. Wake up!" The voice shouted again and it took you a few seconds to recognise the voice before you felt hands gripping your shoulders, shaking you as your eyes flew open.

You blinked a few times trying to focus on Daryl who was knelt down in front of you as you panted, trying to catch your breath. You glanced around the unfamiliar room, spotting Rosita asleep on a couch on the other side of the room and you sighed remembering the past the events and why you guys were in a strange room.

"Hey, look at me. Ya alright?" Daryl asked gently, removing his hands from your shoulders to give you a bit of space and you nodded slightly closing your eyes for a few seconds, trying to catch your breath.

"Fuck, I'm sorry I woke you." You whispered, glancing up at Daryl who was watching you with concerned eyes and he shook his head before taking a seat next to you on the couch. You leant into his side as he wrapped his arm around your shoulders, kissing the top of your head.

"Nah I was on watch, ya didn't wake me." Daryl replied softly and you nodded before you actually processed what he just said.

"Wait, I told Rosita to wake me up for the next watch." You said glancing over at the woman asleep on the other couch.

"I know, but she thought you could do with the extra rest." Daryl replied and you sighed, you appreciated the thought but you didn't need extra sleep. You just needed Negan and the Saviours dead and for this whole thing to be over. "I know ya haven't been sleepin' much Y/N and ya keep saying that you're okay, but I know it ain't true." Daryl said softly his eyes full of worry, but you shook your head.

"It doesn't matter. We just need to win against the Saviours, that's all that all that matters. Once they're dead I can rest." You replied and Daryl nodded, knowing better than to try argue with you about this topic. He just hoped once the Saviours were defeated that everything would go back to normal... well as normal as life got these days.

For the rest of the night you and Daryl stayed on watch together and by the time the sun was in the middle of the sky the three of you were hiding out the front of the Saviours new outpost where you knew Eugene was making bullets. Rosita was hiding behind a large garbage dumpster across the road from the front door, which you guys worked out was the only door in and out of the building. Daryl was crouched down behind a broken-down car to the left of the building while you were sitting against another vehicle to the right side of the building.

There was a Saviour standing guard outside the door and your plan was to kill whoever came out that door first and the guard. Once another Saviour came outside to look for the people you would take them hostage and use them to kill the rest and take Eugene back to Hilltop. However, that plan fell to shit the moment you saw Eugene step out the door behind another by another Saviour.

You quickly drew your bow back, aiming at the Saviour guarding the door, knowing Daryl would have a clear shot of the Saviour in front of Eugene. You waited a few seconds, not sure what Daryl or Rosita wanted to do, but once you heard the familiar sound of Daryl's crossbow being fired, you knew what needed to be done. You fired at the guard by the door before he could even reach for his gun.

You quickly ran over to the dead guard, retrieving your arrow from the side of his head, knowing Rosita had Eugene under control with a gun to the back of his head. You glanced over at Daryl who gave you a nod and you all rushed off down the street, knowing sooner or later the Saviours would notice Eugene was missing and come looking for him.

You jogged the first mile across the town, until Eugene couldn't run anymore and you were forced to go back to walking. Rosita walking along side Eugene whose hands were now zip tied in front of him while you and Daryl walked in front leading them to the car you guys parked a few miles out of town.

"I can't help but suspect that the reason I'm being taken alive is, despite what completely warranted bad blood exists between us, you still harbor vestigial nostalgia for our erstwhile camaraderie. And in light of that, I'm willing to just shut my grub flap." Eugene began saying to Rosita behind you and you groan softly wanting nothing more than to punch the son of a bitch in the face, for everything he had done. Daryl sensed your annoyance as you felt him glance over at you, but you kept your eyes on the road ahead, knowing you would turn around and knock Eugene out if you didn't focus on something else.

"And give you your space until you see such a time as you're ready to break the ice, one traveling companion-" Eugene continued to say before Daryl spun around pinning his crossbow against Eugene's chest as he held his knife up pointing it at the mans head.

"Shut your mouth before I cut your tongue out!" Daryl growled and you quickly drew your bow aiming it at Eugene's head in case he tried to pull anything on Daryl, but by the terrified expression the man was wearing, you doubted he could.

"Alright!" Rosita shouted pulling Daryl away from Eugene and glancing over at you as you lowered your bow. "We got to keep going. They have to be out looking for him by now." She said and you could tell even from standing behind him that Daryl was glaring at Eugene before he turned around and began walking again. You looked over your shoulder, making sure Rosita and Eugene were following behind before you continued walking alongside Daryl.

"Thank you, I-" You heard Eugene began to say before Rosita cut him off.

"Shut up." Rosita ordered and he did. The four of you walked down the streets for a few more minutes before taking a dirt walking track down the side of the town, knowing it would provide more cover from the Saviours if they were searching for him this side of town.

"When I told Negan I made the bullet, it was to save your life. I didn't think. I just acted on your behalf. And I fully expected the crack of the bat to be the last thing I heard, but that didn't happen. And then I thought they would torture me. But they didn't. They gave me a chance to live. And I tried to resist. I tried to rise above my biological imperative, but that is not who I am." Eugene suddenly stated, and you felt your blood begin to boil in anger as you listened to him talk. You took a deep breath trying to control your anger as you slung your bow strap over your shoulder and continued walking.

"I know who you are. You're the reason they were able to escape the Sanctuary. Everything that's happened since then, everyone who's died, that's on you." Rosita spat angrily and you grinned, silently thanking her in your head for putting Eugene in his place.

"Rick's the one who pushed us all to take the Saviours on. He's the one who jumped headlong into this shit-storm with no waders." Eugene stated and that was it. You couldn't hold back your anger anymore as you pulled your handgun out from the back of your belt and quickly turned around, grabbing Eugene by the collar of his shirt as you pressed the barrel of the desert eagle under his chin.

Rosita quickly stepped out the way, knowing there was no point trying to stop you right now and you heard Daryl walk up behind you somewhere, but you didn't care. All you were focused on was Eugene in front of you as your finger rested on the trigger.

"Don't you dare try put all this crap on Rick. He has done everything in his power to keep this group alive and together, what the fuck have you done for this group? Huh? Nothing! Because you're a coward, and you're a traitor. You might not have been tortured at the Sanctuary, but you know what it looks like don't you? I saw you standing there all those times with the other Saviours as I got the shit beaten out of me. All the times I was forced to chain fucking walkers to a fence while you stood besides Negan watching! You did nothing and pretended like you didn't know me!" You snapped, pressing the gun harder against his skin as he trembled in fear, his wide eyes watching you in panic.

"You turned your back on the only friends you ever had! Rick and the others don't want to kill you, not because they give a rat's ass about you. They just need you for what's inside your head. But, I do want to kill you. So go ahead, say anything else to piss me off, I fucking dare you!" You shouted breathing heavily as you glared at him, waiting for him to say something and right now you actually hoped he did, but he remained silent.

After a few seconds you lowered your gun taking a step back, not taking your finger off the trigger as you stared at him. You could hear your heart pounding in your ears and you knew you needed to calm down, but seeing his face, alive and breathing after everything he had done, just made you want to put a bullet through his thick head.

"Hey." Daryl's voice said gently as his hand grabbed your shoulder. His touch grounding you as you took a deep breath, putting your gun back in your belt, but you continued to stare at Eugene as Rosita grabbed him by the collar of his shirt roughly.

"If Y/N doesn't kill you before we get back to Hilltop, we're gonna stick you in the darkest hole we can find, and the only time you'll see the light of day is when we need you to teach us how to do something. So don't worry, you'll get what you want. You'll live. But we're gonna force you to do something useful with your pathetic life!" Rosita stated sternly before pushing Eugene forward to keep walking and you turned around, not wanting to even look at him anymore.

Daryl reached for your hand, taking it in his as your palms touched and you felt yourself already calming down. He always knew how to calm you down and get through to you in even the worst of situations and this was no different. You squeezed his hand gently to say thank you, before you took a step closer to Daryl as the two of you walked down the road, Eugene and Rosita close behind.

A few minutes later the four of you came across a group of walkers by the car and you mentally sighed. Nothing was every easy in this world.

"They must have heard us pull up. We'll take 'em. Watch him." Daryl said pointing to Eugene as you grabbed your bow, pulling the string back and killing the closest walker as Daryl took down the next with his crossbow. You quickly knocked another arrow on the string and bought your bow up, taking down the next walker while Daryl reloaded his crossbow, which took a little longer to do compared to your compound bow. After firing another bolt, Daryl gave up reloading his bow and began taking out the remaining walkers with his knife and you did the same.

Suddenly you heard Rosita fire off a few shots of her rifle and you knew something was wrong, she wouldn't fire her gun at a few walkers, it made too much noise. Shaking your head you focused back on the task at hand as you stabbed the two walkers in front of you, glancing over at Daryl as he pulled his knife from the last walker. He quickly looked over at you to make sure you were alright before the two of you ran over to where Rosita was aiming her gun.

"What happened?" You questioned, noticing something covering the front of her shirt as she turned around with a furious expression.

"He fucking threw up on me and bolted through that gap." She muttered pointing towards a broken section along a wooden wall and with that you all ran over there, climbing through the gap as you scanned your surroundings. You were standing between buildings, a few large piles of ash and bones covered part of the floor where someone had obviously burned bodies.

"He couldn't have got far. Come on." Daryl said pointing towards the tracks that you could faintly see that led straight ahead.

"We can't let him get back to them! If you guys see him, blow that pig's head off!" Rosita shouted as you all took off running.

"You don't have to tell me twice." You responded pulling your gun back out as you ran around the streets trying to find him, but after nearly an hour of searching you guys had no choice, but to make your way back to the car. It was going to be dark soon and there was no point trying to find him, he would already be back with the Saviours by now.

-

By the time the three of you returned it was already nightfall and Rick filled you guys in on how Gregory came back with a map and information about how Negan was going to ambush you guys and where he was gonna be. However, the information come from Dwight, which was why Rick waited for you, Daryl and Rosita to get back so you could help work out what to do. But, you were all unable to make a decision and Rick told you all to sleep on it. Which is why right now as the sun was beginning to rise you were standing around the map with Rick, Michonne, Daryl, Carol, Rosita and Maggie.

"Alright. We'll stick to this road, keep to the trees, we'll get there quicker. Plus, we can keep an eye on the road that way." Daryl said pointing to the road on the map for the others to see.

"Yeah, if they're planning anything, we'll see it." Rosita replied, crossing her arms as she looked around at the rest of you waiting to see if you all agreed.

"You think we can trust Gregory? What he told us?" Michonne asked, glancing over at Maggie since she has had the most experience talking to the other man.

"I locked him up inside the house. He knew I wouldn't let him walk around free. He knew it was coming back to that. He doesn't believe in anything except himself, and he'd have to believe in the Saviours a whole lot to send us into a trap and think it would work out for him." Maggie replied.

"What if Dwight didn't tell him? Dwight and Negan could have planned this." You spoke up staring down at the map, trying to figure out if it was trustworthy.

"That asshole could be setting us up." Daryl said and Rick nodded, but by the look on his face he had a plan and you watched him trying to figure out what his plan was before Morgan suddenly rushed past the group of you.

"Morgan." Carol called following him towards the gates, but you turned back around to Daryl, knowing that Carol could handle whatever was going on inside the man's head.

"Ya know this will only end one way, no matter if this information is a trap or not, right?" Daryl asked as you walked around the bench so you were next to him.

"You mean a war? Yeah, I kinda figured that." You replied, looking down at the ground as you kicked the dirt with your boots. "I suppose I should grab some form of assault rifle instead of using my bow? I mean it would kinda be like bringing a knife to a gun fight." You said and Daryl snorted, trying to hold back his smile as grabbed your hand leading you to where Maggie and Rick had the guns stashed.

-

Rick told you guys the plan, you were splitting off into two groups. The first group was going to head out first and scout ahead to make sure Negan wasn't sending you into a trap.

The first group consisted of you, Daryl, Rosita, Morgan, Ezekiel, Carol, Jerry, Jesus, Rick and Michonne. You all worked well together so it was only a matter of minutes once you guys found a group of Saviours building a road block, that you killed them all.

Daryl made sure you stuck by his side the whole time and you didn't mind. After what happened, you knew Daryl was scared to lose you again and you were as well. Especially if this turned into a gun fight with Negan's army and you all knew not everyone would be walking away, if it came to that.

"Good people, found something on our quarry." Ezekiel suddenly announced catching everyone's attention as Rick and Michonne walked over to him, while the rest of you continued to search the Saviours bodies and the van.

"What is it?" Michonne asked looking at the piece of paper in the King's hand.

"A list and another map. And what appear to be other facts." He answered staring at the paper before handing it to Rick. Another map? This must be the real map, you thought to yourself as you and Daryl walked over to them.

"They're lining up Saviours on the Old Mill Road. That's where Negan will be." Rick stated looking around at everyone, who grinned knowing the Saviours would not see this coming.

"We need to get to Negan before they figure out what happened here." You said and Rick nodded pulling out his walkie-talkie.

"Maggie?" He asked holding the walkie to his mouth.

"I'm here." Her voice replied.

"It's time. It was a trap. So we're changing the plan." Rick stated before he began to explain where to meet up and where Negan will be, so you could all finish this once and for all.

 


	14. Chapter 14

  
Before long you were all walking through the grass of what used to be a farmers paddock. It would have been a pretty good paddock to harvest every season with a view like this. It was like you could see the whole country side, from where you guys where. Everyone was taking in the beautiful scenery and enjoying the moment while it lasted.

Jesus was talking to Morgan about something behind you, but you zoned out of their conversation as you looked over at Daryl besides you who was already staring at you.

"What? Do I have something on my face that I should know about?" You asked with a slight grin as Daryl shook his head.

"Nah, it's not that."

"Then what is it?" You asked curiously watching him as you continued walking with the group.

"Just don't die today, alright?" He said softly, his eyes softening as he looked at you and you smiled.

"Baby, don't worry. I will be fine." You replied giving him a soft smile as you bumped into his shoulders playfully. "Plus, I blend in amongst crowds, unlike Jesus over here with his cool-ass jacket, long hair and beard. The Saviours will shoot at him first 'cause he stands out." You joked causing Daryl to snort as Jesus jogged up to the two of you, after hearing his name.

"Hey! I heard that." He suddenly said and you grinned.

"Good. You were meant to." You replied glancing over at Jesus as he shook his head with a laugh and you heard Daryl chuckle from besides you. You smiled, glad that you managed to get his mind off the thought of something going wrong, even if it only lasted a few minutes.

"Y/N." Daryl suddenly muttered as he stopped walking, staring out at the horizon. You quickly stopped and followed his line of sight and that's when you saw it. The herd of walkers. There had to be hundreds, thousands of them in that herd.

"Holy shit." You muttered, catching the rest of the groups attention and everyone stopped and stared at the walkers.

"Holy damn. You ever seen one that big?" Jerry questioned from somewhere to your left.

"No. Things are changing. Lets go." Rick stated as you took one last look at the herd before you continued walking besides Daryl.

You walked for another few minutes until suddenly the Saviours signature whistle filled the air and if you weren't mistaken it was coming from all directions. You were surrounded. Shit.

You quickly lifted up your AR-15 assault rifle, wedging the butt of the gun against your shoulder as you glanced around the area. You were in a bad position to be ambushed, the Saviours had the higher ground and clearly the element of surprise. How did that even happen? We were meant to be ambushing them.

"Well, damn Rick, look at that. Pegged again. Pegged so very hard. I ambushed your ambush with an even bigger ambush." Negan's voice called through some sort of microphone, but you couldn't pinpoint what direction he was coming from.

"How about you step out and face us?!" Rick shouted, looking around trying to find him, but he was having about as much luck as you were with trying to spot them.

"Oh, I am everywhere, Rick. Some more bullhorns, more walkies. Pick a direction to run. See how you do. Make it fun for all of us. Guess what else I did. I bought some of your old friends. You remember your old buddy Eugene? Well, he is the person that made today possible. Same goes for Dwighty boy here. In case you were wondering, he didn't ream you on purpose. No, he is just a gutless nothin' that sucks at life, and now he gets to stand up here and watch you all die, and he's gonna live with that. Gabriel, well he's got to go too. We are cleaning house today, Rick. And then there's you. It never had to be a fight. You just had to accept how things are. So here we go. Congratulation's, Rick. Three! Two!" Negan's voice shouted and suddenly the Saviours stepped forward and your eyes went wide as you took in how many there were lining the top of the hill. "One!" He yelled, but as the Saviours pulled the triggers, it seemed almost as if all of their guns backfired as majority of them all fell to the ground. What the hell just happened?

"Now!" Rick shouted over his shoulder and you all ran towards the Saviours. The ones that didn't get shrapnel blown in their faces from their guns were now either using different guns or trying to fight you guys with knives.

Once you ran up the hill, you noticed all the Saviours vehicles parked as the surviving Saviours all ducked and weaved behind them trying to dodge your bullets. That's when you noticed Gabriel on the ground and you quickly shot at the Saviour that was sneaking up behind him with a knife in his hand.

"He's running!" Maggie yelled and you glanced to your left, catching a glimpse of Negan running off, but before you could chase after him you saw Rick run after him. You turned back to the other Saviours, glancing over at Daryl making sure he was okay before you continued shooting at them.

"Don't shoot. Please. We're done." One of the Saviours shouted holding her hands in the air and suddenly all the other Saviours did the same, dropping whatever weapon they had as they all got to their knees with their hands up.

You all stared at the Saviours in shock, not expecting them to be the kind of people to surrender, but they clearly proved you wrong. After glancing at every Saviour from where you were standing, satisfied that none of them were going to try anything you turned around knowing the others could handle the Saviours as you walked past them until you could see Rick and Negan fighting near a lonely tree. They weren't too far away and you knew you'd be able to land a perfect headshot on Negan with your bow from this distance but as you reached for your bow on your back, Daryl placed his hand on your shoulder.

"Let Rick do it." Daryl said softly and you nodded turning your attention back to Rick and Negan who seemed to have stopped fighting and started talking. You couldn't quite hear what they were saying, but you saw the glimmer of light as the sun reflected off a piece of glass Rick had in his hand behind his back and you couldn't help but smile. This was it, he was finally gonna pay for everything he and his soldiers had done. All the lives he had taken, the people he had hurt. For Glenn, Abraham, Denise, Olivia, Spencer, Eric, your unborn baby, for everyone.

You watched as Negan stared at Rick and for a moment you thought he wasn't going to do it, but then he swung his arm out and sliced Negan's throat. You saw the blood running down his neck straight away and it was only a matter of minutes before he bled out. You continued watching as Negan fell to the ground, holding his neck before Rick turned around to face you all and the Saviours surrendering behind you.

Rick's eyes glanced over at you and he gave you an almost apologetic look, but why would he do that? He just killed Negan. That's good! But then Rick's eyes landed on someone standing a little bit behind you and you instantly knew it was Siddiq and your heart stopped as you realised what he was about to do.

"Wait. Rick, don't." You quickly said taking a steps forward, the rest of the group looking at you in confusion before Rick shook his head.

"Save him." Rick ordered waving for Siddiq to go help Negan.

"No! Don't you fucking do this! No!" You shouted as you started to run over to him, but Daryl grabbed you from behind, wrapping his arms around your body to stop you from getting any closer.

"Y/N. Please, Y/N. Stop." Daryl said as you tried to get out of his grip, but he was too strong as you felt tears rising in your eyes.

"No, Rick! He has to pay for what he did! He killed our family, our friends! Glenn. Abraham. My baby! He has to die! We need to make it right!" You shouted desperately.

"We have to." Rick stated, staring at you with sad eyes, before he looked back over at Siddiq who was sitting besides Negan. You could hear Maggie shouting in the background somewhere and you knew she wanted him dead, just as badly as you did.

"Rick!" You yelled, tears now falling down your cheeks watching as Rick began walking back towards everyone. "No. No. No." You tried to shout, but it only came out in sobs as your legs buckled from underneath you and Daryl gently lowered you to the ground, his arms still wrapped around you as he sat down behind you, holding you tightly as you cried.

"What happened, what we did, what we lost. There's gotta be something after." Rick said softly, looking at you with watery eyes before he cleared his throat and looked up at everyone else. "The ones who have 'em up, put your hands down. We're all gonna go home now. Negan's alive. But his way of doing things is over. And anyone who can't live with that will pay the price, I promise you that. And any person here who would live in peace and fairness, who would find common ground, this world is yours by right. We are life. That's death!" Rick shouted pointing to the large herd of walkers in the distance. "And it's coming for us. Unless we stand together! So go home. Then the work begins. The new world begins. All this. All this is just what was. There's gotta be something after." Rick said, but you were barely listening. You didn't care what he had to say, you couldn't give a crap about whatever speech just made, Negan was still alive. That wasn't part of the plan!

Daryl held you tightly, holding the side of your head against his chest as you cried into him. You stayed like that for a while, before you heard everyone start to leave and after a while Daryl pulled away slightly.

"Y/N... We should head back to Hilltop, it'll be dark soon." He said softly as you lifted your head looking around, you could see Rick sitting against the tree by himself and you silently wondered how long you had been on the ground for.

You didn't say anything to Daryl, but you nodded your head as he helped you to your feet before you began walking off. You held Daryl's hand tightly, afraid to let go as the two of you walked back to Hilltop. By the time you guys got there you realised that everyone from Kingdom had already left to get back to their community including Carol. There was a thing going on between her and Ezekiel, but he seemed to make her happy, so you were happy for her. Maggie also informed you that people from Alexandria had already headed back with a couple of vehicles, so they could get started on rebuilding the houses after the attack. She told you that Michonne had talked to Rick and that they were going to keep Negan in the cell they had at Alexandria. She also said that you and Daryl could stay here at the Hilltop if you didn't want to go back to Alexandria where Negan was, which is exactly what you guys did.

You stayed at Hilltop, at least for the time being. You weren't ready to go back to Alexandria, not when you knew Negan was there and Daryl felt the same. He was relieved when you said that you wanted to stay here and he agreed with you straight away.

You didn't really talk much that night and neither did Daryl. Both of you still trying to process what the hell just happened and the fact that everyone was going back to their communities. Even though you were all able to visit each other, it still felt wrong to be separated from your family.

-

The next morning you were sitting on the steps to the mansion waiting for Daryl as he parked a red pickup truck by gates and began walking over to you. You knew what he was doing. He had to get rid of Dwight, nobody wanted him in the community and he sure as hell wouldn't go back to the Saviours. So, Maggie told Daryl that he could do what he wanted with him, whether than meant take him out and kill him or drop him off somewhere so he never came back, you weren't sure. But you told Daryl to do what he felt was right, whether that was kill him or leave him in the woods, you didn't care. All you cared about was Negan.

"I love ya Y/N. One day we will make it right, I promise you." Daryl said gently as he knelt down in front of you taking your hands in his and you smiled softly, giving him a kiss.

"I know. I love you too, I'm sorry-" You began to say, but Daryl quickly shook his head.

"Ya got nothin' to be sorry for. Negan is locked away and we will work it out. For now, let's just focus on our lives alright? Let's just focus on us." He said and you smiled with a nod causing Daryl to grin. "I missed seeing ya smile like that. Are ya gonna be alright here by yourself while I deal with Dwight?"

"I can keep an eye on her." Jesus suddenly said walking over to the two of you and Daryl nodded, giving you a quick kiss before he walked back towards the truck after Maggie let Dwight out the prison.

"So, I hear you and Daryl are staying at Hilltop, at least for now anyway. I'm glad you guys are staying, you're like family to me and the people here love the two of you." Jesus suddenly said as he took a seat next to you on the steps as you leant your elbows on your knees, watching as Daryl drove out the gates.

"You're like family to us as well." You replied softly glancing over at Jesus before Maggie walked over to the two of you.

"When Daryl gets back can we all have a private word in my office?" She asked and you nodded, glancing at Jesus with a questioning look but he just shrugged his shoulders having no clue what it was about.

-

"I just wanted to say that you were right about saving the Saviours from the satellite outpost. Having them here. I don't regret what I did. But you were right and Rick was right about not killing all the Saviours. Not about Negan." Maggie suddenly said walking into the room as she sat down behind the desk, Jesus on the chair in front while you and Daryl leant against the cupboard along the wall, watching from a distance.

"So what does that mean, Maggie?" Jesus questioned.

"We have a lot to do. We have to build this place up, make it work better than before, make it thrive for the people who live here. We need our strength, the ability to defend ourselves better. We have to have that." She replied and Jesus nodded.

"We will."

"But Rick and Michonne... Rick was wrong to do what he did. Michonne too. So we're gonna bide our time, wait for our moment and then we're gonna show him." Maggie stated and you knew she was referring to killing Negan and suddenly Daryl stepped forwards, his arm around your shoulder.

"Yeah. We will." He stated glancing down at you and you nodded.

"We'll make it right." You said with a nod, unable to hide your smile as you glanced between Maggie, Jesus and Daryl. Your group may now be all split up, but you still had family and friends at Hilltop and the others were only a day's travel away. You would make it work. You and Daryl could really build a life here at Hilltop, maybe try for a baby again, start a family... that was something you wanted and you knew Daryl did as well. Once everyone was ready and the time was right, you would make things right for all the people you had lost along the way, you weren't alone in this. But until then, you had Daryl by your side and honestly that was all that really mattered.

***THE END***

 

**Author's Note:**

> Hey guys,  
> This is the second fic of this series and I hope you are all enjoying it, the next chapter will be up in a few days so stay tuned.  
> Until then, stay safe everyone xx


End file.
